Being With You Only Brings The Tears
by Because Love is WAY Over-rated
Summary: SEQUEL- Now w/ Gar gone, Rae tries to regain some normal in her life while Kor is trying to make things with Xavier work and keep Richard off her back. Too bad he's trying to get her back as things begin to stir within the dorm rooms. AU- C.S. 3-end
1. Someone She Wanted

_**Being With You Only Brings The Tears**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans**

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"I'm laughing at myself because I know why you were with me. You just said so yourself! 'I have a reason to be with you now Kor!' You only wanted me because you wanted more sex! Well you know what?! You got it ass hole! And I hope you're happy with all the times we did fuck because that's the last you're getting from me ever again! So go ahead and go off to your new school and fuck every girl there! I don't fucking care! Because you're not my problem anymore! We're through Dick!" Kory yelled before turning from him and beginning to walk off._

"_That's not what I meant Kory!" Richard cried, grabbing hold of her wrist. Kory quickly spun around and slapped him, causing her wrist to be set free._

"_Keep your filthy hands off me," she spat before turning once again and leaving._

"_I don't feel any regret," Kory repeatedly thought to herself and ever time she did, the pain only got worse, but no; she wouldn't go crawling back to him._

"_I'll never be enough for you, will I Richard?"_

-------------------------------

"Carmen, what do you do when you don't want to feel the pain anymore?"

"I either drink or smoke, but I don't want you doing either of those things Kory."

"Then what should I do? Because even after all this time, I still feel the pain."

"All this time? It's only been like a week and your birthday is coming up, so you better start feeling better," Carmen told her sister before leaving her room while she lay there, curled up in the sheets while feeling the hallow throbbing of her heart.

"How can I start feeling better when I have no reason to?" Kory questioned aloud.

"Just don't go emo, black doesn't look that good on you," Carmen called from down the hall. Not wanting to have to feel the pain anymore, Kory closed her eyes and soon fell into a restless sleep.

-------------------------------

"I hate you."

"Richard don't say that because I know you truly don't mean it. You have to believe me when I say that I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I simply wanted you to get a good education," Bruce said sternly.

"How can you say you never meant for any of this to happen?! Splitting us apart and moving me to a different school brought it along! So yes, I can say that I hate you and I do hate you!" Richard yelled before turning to leave the office.

"Richard Grayson! Get back in here!" Bruce ordered.

"_Fuck you_," Richard spat before leaving the office and slamming the door behind him.

"God damnit!" Bruce yelled before running his shaky hands through his hair, messing it up as he did so.

_"Maybe Kory can talk some sense into him," _he thought before reaching for the phone.

"Absolutely not! I never want to see that bastard again!" Kory yelled over the phone.

"I think you're over reacting a bit Kory. All he did was tell you he was switching schools," Bruce said calmly.

"You think I don't want to see him because of that?!" Kory yelled.

"That's sure as hell what it seems like," Bruce said.

"I don't want to talk to that pig because he pretty much told me flat out that he was only with me for my sex!" Kory yelled.

"Richard would never do something like that!" Bruce protested.

"_Know that I'd hurt you! Before I was stupid and wasn't thinking! I have a reason to be with you now Kor! _That's what he told me. What else would he be talking about?! That's all he's ever wanted from me and now that he's had it he can just go off and fuck every girl his filthy hands can reach!" Kory spat.

"I just can't believe Richard would do something like this," Bruce mumbled.

"Well start believing because he did and its never going to change! That's all he'll ever want, just a good fuck," Kory said and even over the phone, Bruce could tell she was sobbing.

"Kory I'll talk to him-"

"Don't waste your time, I don't ever want to see him again," Kory cut him off before hanging up.

_"I can't believe Bruce tried to get me to talk to that asshole!" _she thought bitterly, staring at the phone that was clenched in her fist.

_"I wish I could call Rachel, but she's in the hospital and I don't need to add to her pain… even though she probably heard the whole thing through the walls," _Kory thought and looked down at the phone. No, she thought, it'd be better to just go see her instead of telling her over the phone and even then, she couldn't bare to see her friend in any more pain then she already was in. In the end, Kory decided that a walk and some fresh air would do her some good. As she looked through her clothes, Carmen popped her head in and said,

"If you try to leave the house in anything black, I'll send you right back upstairs to change," before continuing on her way to do whatever she had first set out to do. It came to Kory's attention that ever since the break up with Richard; her sister had been a lot more caring; even if she was still rusty on how to show it.

"Don't worry, I'm just going out to get some fresh air," Kory called to her sister who was soon standing in her doorway.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Carmen asked and Kory smiled.

"Thank you, but I'd rather just be alone for now," she said and Carmen nodded, showing that she understood.

"Alright, but I'll be checking your wrists every morning and night from now on," she threatened jokingly before leaving her younger sister to finish getting dressed.

_"That bastard is lucky I haven't gone over there personally to beat his ass for what he did to Kory!" _Carmen thought before continuing towards her room.

"I don't know when I'll be back, but I have my cell phone and house key," Kory yelled and after hearing her sister say it was fine, she left the house and began walking in the direction that **didn't **lead to Richard's house. Kory was dressed in a white summer dress that reached her knees along with a pair of white flats with a small bow on them. Her cell phone and keys were in her white bag that hung on her shoulder along with some money incase she decided she wanted to grab a bite to eat. Soon enough Kory reached mall.

_"Funny, I don't remember walking over here," _she thought, but shrugged it off and walked inside. Since it was summer, the mall was crowded with many people in shorts, tang tops, skirts, and other articles of clothing that didn't completely cover their bodies. Guys around her age were constantly checking out the female portion of the mall and she was tempted to give them a piece of her mind.

"Disgusting, the whole fucking lot of them," Kory muttered to herself, happy that no one heard her. As she continued to walk through the mall, Kory began to notice the eyes that watched her and the voices that whispered when she walked by. Even though it was summer, word had spread about her and Richard breaking up just like it would have in school. Only question was, who had started it?

"Hey there hottie!" a random guy called out to Kory and she bit her tongue to stop from going over there and cussing him out. She was just fed up with the male population at the time and didn't want anything to do with them.

"All because I let him hurt me again," Kory said, louder than she wanted because some people looked at her.

"Like oh my God! You're that Kory girl that got dumped by Richard! I heard about that!" an annoying high pitched voice giggled as Kory walked by.

"For you information I was the one that dumped that fucking man-whore," she spat and the girl looked at her while smacking her gum.

"I can't believe he actually got together with a freak like you when he could have had me," she said, her group of friends nodding.

"You can have him! I don't want to see that sex-hungry pig ever again," Kory said before turning to leave.

"Wait so like you've slept with him! Like my friend did too!" she laughed and Kory stopped.

"When did she sleep with him?" she asked.

"Like over the summer last year, she said he was a really good fuck," the girl said.

"Well I have something you can pass on for your friend. Richard would have wanted her to have it. I'm giving this to all of the slutie stuck up bitches that slept with him while we were still dating," Kory said before pulling her fist back and punching her square in the nose. The girl cried out in pain and people stopped to look over at them, whispering to each other.

"Hey aren't you that girl that Richard Grayson dumped?" some guy from the crowd yelled, though Kory couldn't tell who.

"Yeah! That means she's like single now!" another one yelled as Kory's blood began to boil.

"Who the hell said that! Why don't you come over here so I can give you a piece of my mind!" she yelled towards the crowd before mall security showed up and kicked her out of the mall.

"Great, just fucking fantastic. Can this day get any better?" Kory said, walking away from the mall.

"It's been a while Kory," a voice from behind her spoke and she recognized it at once.

"Leave me alone Roy, I'm not in the mood for your perverted ways," Kory said, continuing to walk.

"Word is you gave yourself up to Grayson and then he dumped you," Roy said, now walking next to her.

"He didn't dump me, I dumped him," she hissed.

"That's a shock, why'd you do it?" he asked.

"Because Roy! He only wanted me for my sex! And you know what?! He got it!" Kory yelled, turning to face him as tears threatened to fall from her emerald eyes.

"If he got it, I think it's only fair that I get it too," Roy said before crushing his lips against hers with a bruising force. Kory tried to push him off or pull away from him, but nothing was working. Roy simply continued to kiss her as he snaked his arms around her waist and pushed her up against the side wall of a near by building. He pulled back to breath before continuing to kiss her.

_"There's no point in fighting, nobody will notice us and screaming won't do much either when his mouth is covering mine," _Kory thought, tears now trailing from her eyes and down her pale cheeks.

"Don't cry baby, you don't have to fight it. I'll be good to you unlike Grayson and in return, all I ask you to do is give me what I want when I want it," Roy said, now kissing her neck. He bit into the flesh and Kory let out a whimper before he began to lick and suck that one spot.

"Please let me go Roy," she pleaded while he began to unzip her dress.

"I could have had you months ago, but Grayson got in the way of things. He isn't here now and I intend to have you now," he said, kissing at her collar bone while continuing to slowly unzip her dress. When Roy had finally finished unzipping Kory's dress, he was about to remove it, exposing her chest when she heard the sound of bone cracking and Roy was pulled away from her. Since Kory no longer had Roy there to hold her up, she fell to the ground and began to sob.

"Are you alright Kory?" someone asked her and she looked up, pleased to finally see someone she wanted to.

"No Xavier, I'm not alright," Kory said before crying into his chest. Xavier held her tightly before zipping up the back of her dress and picking her up bridal style.

"It's alright Kor, he won't hurt you again," he whispered to her before carrying her way from Roy who was left bleeding on the ground.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well I think that was a pretty good first chapter! I'm getting better at those you know. Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter and be expecting this and MUCH more from me. Also, I hope everyone is ready for **DRAMA** because this year is going to be filled with it.

Please review!

Kattie


	2. Grilled Cheese

Xavier looked down at the form of the sleeping girl on his bed. Her face held both a pained expression and a content one. It was odd, to see someone with those two expressions on their face at the same time, but here he was; looking at it now. Kory stirred in her sleep and Xavier's eyes darted to her eyes, waiting for them to open. When they finally did, he was staring into pools of emerald.

"How are you feeling?" Xavier asked her.

"Better I guess," Kory mumbled.

"You have to tell the police," he stated.

"W-what?" she asked, unsure of what he was talking about.

"You have to tell the police about Roy trying to rape you, _twice_. He needs to be punished for what he tried to do," Xavier clarified and Kory looked unsure.

"I don't want to see Roy get hurt," she said.

"Are you even thinking about what he was trying to do to you?! Even if you aren't a virgin and it wouldn't be like he was taking something from you, he still would have been invading you! How can you just let that slide again?" Xavier asked.

"Will you come with me to the police?" Kory asked.

"Of course. I want to see that bastard put behind bars," he answered and she smiled up at him.

"Thank you Xavier, you don't know how long I've needed someone to talk to," Kory said, hugging him.

"Yeah, I heard about you breaking up with Richard," Xavier said, hugging her back.

"Finally someone that knows the truth! Everyone thinks that that self absorbed womanizer dumped me and it's really been pissing me off!" Kory exclaimed and her friend laughed lightly.

"What's so funny?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Just what you called him," Xavier said before kissing her forehead.

"Well it's the truth you know? Now what are we eating? I'm starved," Kory joked, standing from his bed.

"Anything you want," Xavier said, smiling at her.

"Grilled cheese!" Kory exclaimed before giggly when she saw his face.

"You can have anything you want, no matter what cost, and you choose grill cheese?" Xavier asked, his eye brow raised.

"Am I not good enough for a labor of love like making a grill cheese?" Kory asked, pretending to be hurt.

"No you're not, but I'm afraid you'll be hurt on the way to the kitchen so I'll just have to carry you there," Xavier said before picking her up and throwing her gently over his shoulder.

"Put me down Xavier!" Kory yelled while laughing and pounding with her fists on his back.

"Hey, don't hit me so hard unless you're gonna be giving me a back massage later," Xavier said while laughing and carrying her towards the living room.

"Fine I will! Just put me down," Kory said before she was tossed down on the couch, landing in a fit of giggles.

"Now you stay here and I'll be back with your grilled cheese," Xavier ordered before leaving to go to the kitchen.

"Try not to burn it!" Kory called after him.

"Yeah, yeah. Just try not to pee on my couch from laughing too much," Xavier called back and she began to laugh once again.

"I'm serious Kor!" he added before hearing her run off of the couch and towards the bathroom.

"I really do hate you Xavier," Kory muttered, entering the kitchen while glaring at him.

"I'll get you some clothes to wear after I finish making our grilled cheeses," Xavier said between fits of laughter. It seemed that Kory hadn't exactly 'made it' so she now had a towel wrapped around her while she waddled.

"You better, until then I'm gonna take a shower. Just leave the clothes on the counter," Kory said before leaving the kitchen and returning to the bathroom. Soon running water was heard and their sandwiches were done.

"The food is done Kor and the clothes are on the counter," Xavier said, placing a clean pair of his boxers and a t-shirt next to the sink in the bathroom.

"Alright, thanks, now get out," Kory said, waving him off with her hand that was poking through the shower curtains. Xavier laughed before leaving as told to do so. A few minutes later Kory came out, dressed in the clean clothes with her wet hair hanging loosely.

"You look good," Xavier said, handing her a plate with her food on it.

"I'm sure you love seeing me in your clothes," Kory said, picking up a piece of her grilled cheese.

"I'd rather see you covered in my bed sheets, but this will do," he told her truthfully.

"You know I wouldn't get in a relationship with you just for the sex," Kory said.

"Then don't be in a relationship with me just for the sex," Xavier said, setting his food to the side.

"I'm just not ready for a relationship right now Xavier," she said, refusing to look at him.

"So that's it then. You're just gonna let Richard walk all over you and own your life. What happened to the Kory that wouldn't give up and try her hardest?" Xavier asked.

"She died Xavier! All I am now is an empty shell, I'm tried of feeling all of this pain," Kory said and she began to cry.

"I'm going to kill him for doing this to you," Xavier said, picking up his crying friend and cradling her in his arms.

"Please don't," Kory whispered.

"And why not? After everything he's done to you I think he deserves a good kick in the ass," Xavier said, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

"Just don't. As much as I try not to, I can't stop that I still care for him. I know I should hate his guts and be going with you to beat him up, but I can't," she said weakly.

"You always were caring. Never caring what the person looks like, or what kind of people they hang out with. Probably the I reason I fell in love with you so quickly," Xavier said and Kory looked up at him with big eyes.

"You love me?" she asked.

"Of course I do Kor. Have I done anything that says I don't?" he asked and Kory began to think back to all of the times she had spent with Xavier over the years. Before she could say anything, Xavier pressed his lips softly to hers; ending Kory's thoughts right away.

"Kory I-" Xavier whispered, pulling away slightly so he could talk. It seemed that Kory had something else in mind when she pushed her lips to his once again, this time it was filled with hunger. Xavier shifted Kory so she was now straddling him while he kept his hands on his hips. Kory had one of her resting on his toned chest while the other played with his hair.

"Don't make me wait Xavier," Kory moaned as he kissed down her neck and began sucking where her pulse was. Xavier wrapped his arms around Kory's waist before slowly standing, her legs wrapped around his waist while she slowly grinded on him. Xavier grunted in pleasure before walking to his room, the woman of his dreams still in his arms. Kicking open the door, Xavier shut it behind him with his foot and then gently laid Kory down on his bed.

"Are you sure?" he questioned, pulling away from her soft lips.

"I love you Xavier," Kory whispered into his ear. That was all Xavier needed to hear before he kissed her once again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second chapter and Kory is already having sex with someone. Can't you tell this will be a lovely story? Please review and thanks to those who did!

Kattie


	3. You'll Be Seeing Me Soon

"You'll come with me, right?" Kory asked nervously while she and Xavier drove to her house so she could change into some clean clothes.

"Of course Kor. What kind of person would I be if I didn't? It was my idea after all," Xavier said.

"Okay, I'll be right out," Kory said before getting out of the car and running up to her house and coming back out in a pair of tight skinny jeans and a white tang top with white slip-ons.

"Do we really have to do this?" she asked as Xavier drove her towards the police station.

"Yeah Kory, you do. Roy's tried to rape you twice now and that's not something you should just let him get away with. He'll just keep trying and trying until I or someone else won't be there to protect you and then he'll get what he wants and won't think twice of what he did to you. Do you really want a person like that out on the streets so he can rape other girls?" Xavier asked her, flicking his eyes towards her before bringing them back to the road.

"How do you know he'll try it on other girls? Who's to say it's just me he wants and won't hurt anyone else?" Kory asked, her stomach doing flips from being so nervous.

"Do you really want to take the chance? Or make sure for good that he won't hurt anyone else?" Xavier asked and Kory sighed before nodding.

"You're right, I need to do this," she agreed with him.

"That's good because we're here," Xavier said and she looked up from her lap to see that they were in fact in front of the police station. She gasped and looked over at him with pleading eyes, but Xavier shook his head, silently telling her that there was no way of getting out of this. Kory took a deep breath before stepping out of the car and walking towards the doors, Xavier right beside her. As they stepped inside, both of them noticed that it was nothing of what they thought it would look like. They thought that there would be officers walking this way and that way, multiple phones ringing all at once, and the smell of coffee and donuts to be lingering in the air. Though instead there were only a few officers walking about, most with coffee in their hands and looking quiet bored, there was a flora smell in the air coming from small pots with flowers in them located on the main desk and in some pots next to cushioned chairs. There was also only one phone, seeable, and it was currently being used by the receptionist. Xavier and Kory looked over at each other before walking over to the front desk.

"Can I help you Ms?" the woman receptionist asked after putting the phone down. Kory took a deep breath to calm her nerves and Xavier entwined his fingers with hers reassuringly.

"Yes, I'd like to report an attempted rape," Kory finally said and the receptionist looked up at her oddly.

"On whom?" she asked.

"On me," Kory said, finally feeling a little better now that she had told someone.

"I-I'll get an officer right away," the woman said before picking up the phone mumbling something and placing it back down before an officer was standing next to them.

"Please come with me Ms. We'd like to ask you some questions," he said. Kory nodded and began to follow him while Xavier followed along as well.

"Your friend can stay behind," the office said, looking back at Xavier who still held Kory's hand.

"I'm her boyfriend and not going to leave her side," Xavier said sternly and the officer shot him a warning glance before deciding not to bother and continuing towards another room. The room that the three soon entered was small, with a table and four chairs in it along with a light that hung from the ceiling.

"Please take a seat and I'm warning you now that we will have to record this for further evidence," the officer said before the two teens took their seats with the officer on the other side of the table facing them.

"Can I have your names," the officer asked, though it was more of an order.

"Kory Anders."

"Xavier Red."

"When did the attempt happen?" the officer asked, getting straight to it.

"Two days ago," Kory said.

"And there were two attempts made by the same person," Xavier added in.

"How do you know the man?" the officer asked, feeling sorry for the young girl sitting across from him.

"I knew him in high school and he was one of my ex boyfriends last year," Kory said.

"What's his name?"

"Roy Harper and I know where you can find the bastard," Xavier swore.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't swear, but I would also like to know where I could find Mr. Harper," the officer said, pulling out a pen and paper. Kory gave him the address and the officer nodded.

"Mr. Red, could you please take Ms. Anders to the hospital. I would like to make sure she's unharmed," the officer said, standing.

"I assure you that I was not harmed by him, simply frightened," Kory said, standing as well.

"You can never be too safe. When you're done there, please come back here so you can identify your attacker," the officer said before handing them a note that they would give to someone at the hospital. Xavier nodded and led Kory out of the room and back towards their car.

"I really don't want to go to the hospital Xavier," Kory whined as he drove them towards said building.

"You heard the officer, they want you checked out," Xavier said.

"Do you think they'll do one of 'those' check ups?" Kory asked, looking over at him.

"They may because it was an attempted rape. If they do just tell them the truth," Xavier said and the rest of the drive was in silence. When they did finally reach the hospital, Xavier practically dragged Kory in and gave the note to the woman sitting behind her desk. She looked up at Kory with a sympathetic look before calling over a nurse to take Kory to one of the rooms. Xavier was forced to wait in the waiting room for about an hour before Kory finally came back out with yet another note.

"What'd they say?" Xavier asked, standing from his seat and stretching.

"They said I was fine and to be sure to use protection," Kory said rolling her eyes which caused Xavier to chuckle.

"We'll worry about that later, right now we have to get back to the station so that we can put Roy behind bars," he said and the two drove once again back to the station. When they went inside, Kory and Xavier walked over to the receptionist and handed her the note before she called over the officer that had helped them before.

"We've got Roy Harper in custody; we're just waiting for you to identify him as your attacker," the officer said before leading them into a different back room. Inside the room Roy sat on a steel chair, handcuffed behind his back. When Kory came in he smirked, but when Xavier followed in behind her, his smirk turned to a glare.

"Is that him Ms. Anders?" the officer asked. Kory looked at Roy, then Xavier, and then the officer.

"Y-yes," she stuttered and the officer nodded while Xavier took hold of her hand.

"Alright, we'll take him down town," the officer said before two others came in and took Roy by his arms and began to drag him out of the room.

"Don't worry Kory, I'll be seeing you again once I get out of jail," Roy said calmly before the police took him away and it was just the officer, Kory, and Xavier.

"I'm glad to see someone who would try to rape a girl put behind bars. I have a daughter your age myself," the officer said, watching Roy leave.

"Thank you officer," Xavier said, still holding Kory.

"Officer Beecher," he said with a warm smile before leaving the two so they could be alone. Once he was gone, Kory began to shake and was soon crying.

"It's okay Kor, he's gone now. Roy can't hurt you anymore," Xavier said, taking her into his arms while she shook.

"Did you hear what he said? He said I'll be seeing him again once he gets out of jail," Kory whimpered.

"As long as I'm with you, he won't touch you again," Xavier said before taking her home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it took so long to update, but school has been keeping me busy. All the same, please review!

Kattie


	4. Reminds Me Of You

"You might as well come Richard unless you want to get lost at your new school," Bruce said, standing by his adopted son's door.

"I don't want to go to another school! I was happy just where I was! You ruined everything for me!" Richard yelled back. Bruce sighed before pulling out the key he kept with him at all times: the one that let him into Richard's room incase he locked the door.

"I still don't know why I got you a lock for your door," he muttered while walking into the dark room. Richard was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor, completely ignoring Bruce.

"Come on Richard, get dressed," Bruce said.

"It's her birthday today," Richard said, barely above a whisper. Bruce caught it and sighed once again.

"You've got to let her go Richard, obviously Kory doesn't want to be with you," he said, regretting the words once they slipped out of his mouth.

"**SHUT UP!**" Richard yelled, standing from his bed. The sound of cracking glass was heard as Bruce stepped away from him. Both their eyes darted to the picture frame Bruce had just broken and tears filled in Richard's eyes when he saw that it was a picture of him and Kory.

"I'm sorry Richard, I didn't mean to," Bruce said, bending down to pick it up, but Richard stopped him.

"Just go," he said, quiet once again.

"I can go get another frame," Bruce said.

"No you can't, it was a gift from her. Please just go. I just want to be alone," Richard said, picking up the now broken picture.

"Alright, we can go tomorrow," Bruce said, walking out into the hall.

"No, I'll just find someone to show me around on the first day," Richard said before closing the door and locking it, not bothering to pay attention to what Bruce was saying. He slowly walked back over to his bed and sat down once again, the picture still in his hand. A single tear fell from Richard's eyes before he shot up from his bed and in his state of rage, he knocked all of the things off of his dresser. Glass broke once again when he grabbed a chair from his desk and swung it at the mirror. It took multiple swings before the mirror finally shattered and glass littered his ground. Next Richard took all of his clothes out of his dresser and began tearing them apart, the pieces landing all over his floor just like the glass. He the knocked over all of his furniture until only his bed was still there and even then the sheets were torn.

_"Why?" _Richard thought, not exactly what he was asking. There were a lot of things he had to ask, that one word just seemed to sum it up the best. Why had Kory left him? Why had he been so stupid to say all of those things? Why was it effecting him so much? Why was he doing all of these things? Why did his life feel like it had no purpose?

Deciding the best way to find answers to these questions was to first calm his mind, Richard made his way to his bathroom which was untouched by his mad rampage. Along the way, glass pricked at his feet, but her never once winced in pain. His mind was blank and only returned to him when he made it to the bathroom and the glass began to sink into his foot as he walked on the tile floors.

"Damn," Richard hissed, looking down at his bleeding feet. He then looked back into his room to see foot prints of blood leading towards the bathroom. Searching through the drawers, Richard soon found a pair of tweezers and sat down on the counter, holding his foot over the sink as he began to pick out the pieces of glass. A low hiss of pain was the only other noise beside the sound of the glass dropping into the water below which was now a dark red color thanks to all of Richard's blood. When he was finally done picking out all of the glass, Richard stripped from his clothes and turned on the shower. The warm water ran over his body while he tried to regain his train of thought. As of now everything was all jumbled up in his head and Richard couldn't think straight for a minute before he would blank out or start thinking of something else.

_"Why is everything so hard now? Why can't it just go back to the way it used to be?" _Richard thought, his mind going back to the 'why' questions. Though he had said it before, told her millions of times, Richard realized the reason he felt this way was because he was in love with her. Head over heels in love, to the point where he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but she wanted nothing to do with him. He also knew that seeing her with another guy should drive him to the point of insanity.

_"I love her, I need her, and I can't live without her," _Richard thought, running his hand through his wet hair.

-------------------------------

"Happy birthday Cutie," Xavier said, holding out a bouquet of red roses while Kory smiled.

"Thank you Xavier," she said, taking the roses and giving him a peck on the lips. It had been a couple of weeks since they had turned Roy in and the two were still together.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight, my treat," Xavier offered, leaning against the counter while Kory put the roses into a vase.

"Sounds great. My parents were talking about flying in, but my dad can't get out of it. Maybe next year," she said sadly.

"Well its sort of a good thing because I didn't plan on sharing you with anyone today. Just you and me," Xavier said, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging his girlfriend from behind.

"That sounds good," Kory smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder with her eyes closed.

"Yup and I've got the whole day planned out, starting with a relaxing massage," Xavier said, already starting on her neck and shoulders.

"This feels wonderful Xavier," Kory moaned slightly, her eyes fluttering closed while his fingers worked wonders.

"I've been told I have a way with my hands," Xavier said, his breath hot on her neck. He then began to move his fingers down her back and along her spine. This when on for a few minutes before Xavier wrapped his arms around Kory's waist and began to kiss her neck.

"It's a shame my birthday only comes once a year, I could've gotten used to that," Kory said, placing her hands on his.

"I'll give you another massage later, right now we're due for sun and sand at the beach," Xavier said.

"You really do have the whole day planned out, don't you?" Kory asked, smiling as he drug her upstairs.

"Pretty much, now get changed or you'll mess up my schedule," Xavier said, earning a giggle from his girlfriend.

"No boys in your room while I'm still here," Carmen said, walking past the couple and towards her own room.

"Sorry Xavier, she's the boss," Kory said with a grin before closing the door behind her when she went into her room to change. Xavier crossed his arms and glared and tapped his foot impatiently.

"You can stop tapping your foot, I'm done," Kory said, returning from her room.

"Finally, it only took you like forever," he said, taking hold of her hand and pulling her towards the stairs.

"Are you mad because you couldn't see me change?" Kory asked, talking to him like he was a little kid.

"No! I was just gonna be there to make sure you didn't take too long. I have the whole day planned out and that isn't scheduled until after I take you out to dinner," Xavier said with a smirk.

"You're such a pervert," Kory said with a giggle.

"I have my cell phone Carmen," she called to her sister before being pulled out of the house and towards Xavier's motorcycle.

"Hold on Cutie," he said before taking off in the direction of the beach.

-------------------------------

"Richard I need to talk to you for a moment," Bruce said, knocking on the bedroom door. He waited for a moment more before Richard opened the door just enough to stick his head out, but not enough for Bruce to see the mess inside.

"What?" he asked.

"There's a dinner party tonight and you're coming with me. It will do you some good to get out of your room," Bruce said.

"I don't want to go," Richard stated.

"That's too bad because I'm taking you with me. Be ready in an hour and dress nicely," Bruce declared before turning away and leaving.

_"Why does he always have to drag me around to these kinds of events? There's never anything to do and I get bored as hell. At least he didn't see my room. If Bruce saw that I'm sure he'd have me checked into some kind of psycho ward," _Richard through grimly, walking along the path that he had made through the glass to get to his bed. So far Richard had managed to clear a path through the glass using what was left of the back of his chair. He also picked up the shreds of clothes and put them into a black garbage bag. As for his feet, they were wrapped in some gauze he had found in his bathroom with socks over that.

"Good thing I put all of my suits in my closet," Richard said aloud, walking over to look at the only clothes he had left. After pulling on the suit and his shoes (carefully), Richard combed his hair into its normal spiky look and left his room. Bruce was already waiting for Richard by the time he got down the stairs.

"Glad you decided to come on your own," Bruce said before turning towards the door and leaving the manor. Richard sighed heavily before leaving as well.

-------------------------------

"When can I open my eyes?" Kory asked, waiting patiently while Xavier pulled her along.

"Just a bit longer and then you can," he said, smiling at her obvious pout.

"You said that like five minutes ago," Kory whined.

"And we'll be there in seven, so just chill," Xavier said before they continued their walk in silence.

"Alright, you can open your eyes," he said and when Kory did, she gasped. From Xavier's point of view, it would have been a gasp of surprise, but the real reason Kory gasped was because they were at the beach she had shared that one drunken night with Richard at.

"Do you like it?" Xavier asked, gesturing towards the blanket with food on it set up as a picnic.

"It's very sweet of you Xavier," Kory said, not wanting to hurt his feelings by telling him that she absolutely hated the spot. This spot reminded her of her stupidity for getting drunk and of Richard.

_"No, no thoughts of him today. Today it's just me and Xavier," _Kory thought, mentally slapping herself.

"Glad you like it," Xavier said, smiling at her while they sat down to enjoy their meal.

-------------------------------

"Richard how about you escort Ms. Moth to our table," Bruce suggested, though it was more like an order.

"How about you let me get the hell out of here? I don't care about this stupid dinner party or _Ms. Moth_," Richard snapped back.

"I'm just trying to help you get over Kory," Bruce said, regretting right away that he had said her name.

"Yeah well nothing you can do or _offer_ is going to help get me over Kory. She was like my life Bruce and I love her," Richard said, glaring at his adoptive father.

"She may have been your life, but you obviously weren't hers. God Dick! Why do you have to be so dense! Kory loved you, but you hurt her and more than once. Don't you think this is hard on her too? Think back to all last year Richard and think of all the times that you've hurt her. I'm surprised she even got back together with you in the first place, let alone sleep with you," Bruce lectured.

"You don't know anything about me or Kory!" Richard yelled before pulling back his balled up fist. He was about to launch it forwards, which would land Bruce with a broken nose, but the person he least expected to see, was holding him back.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes I have ended with an evil cliff hanger! I'm SO SORRY for the long wait for an update! Things have been really busy with family and school. My brother just started baseball so I have to go to some of his games and my sister has started winter guard so I'm going to all of those competitions too and they take up ALL Saturday. Yesterday she had one and I had to wake up at 5 in the morning and didn't get home until like 1:30 the next morning. Also testing is going to start soon in school so teachers are laying on the homework and I'll have to go shopping soon for my cruise in April to Mexico.

So things are busy in my life right now, but I really do hope to be able to update the next chapter sooner.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter even though it was a hell of a wait for it... Please review!

Kattie


	5. Not Even That

_"Even after being apart from him, he still haunts my thoughts," _Kory thought while Xavier drove her back towards her house so she could get changed dinner. After their picnic at the beach, Xavier had taken Kory to the movies which reminded her of when her and Richard had gotten in a fight.

-------------------------------

_"I'm not going to lie to you, yes. I don't trust you with Xavier."_

_"You don't trust me?" _

_"Kory you've been through a lot in the past month or so and I thought that maybe you might not be thinking clearly and decide to got out with him."_

_"Richard you are so unbelievably selfish! Rachel told me you loved me, but I didn't think you'd seriously take it that far as to follow me when I go out with any other guy then you?!"_

_"Kory I'm just watching over what's mine."_

_"I am not yours! And frankly, I don't think I ever will be. How could you Richard?"._

_"I'm sorry." _

_"So am I."_

_----------------------------------------_

_"I hate thinking about the past, but it seems to be all I can think about," _Kory thought as she pulled on her knee length white dress. It was held up by two spaghetti straps and although it fit her body nicely, it wasn't too tight. Kory left her hair down, but curled it and decided on not putting on makeup. For shoes she had a pair of white kitten heals and was ready to go just in time.

"You ready Cutie?" Xavier asked, knocking on her door.

"Question is: are you?" Kory asked playfully as she opened the bedroom door and smiled at her boyfriend.

"You look gorgeous Kory," Xavier said, looking her over.

"Not half bad yourself," she said with a smile before taking hold of his hand.

"I'm going out for dinner with Xavier," Kory said as they walked past her sister's room. Carmen mumbled something that sounded like a 'whatever' and the couple continued on their way out. Xavier had traded in his motorcycle for the night for his father's car which was a black Jaguar.

"Thank you," Kory said, smiling at Xavier as he opened the door for her and then closed it. The drive to the restaurant was pretty much silent except for the usual talk between the two.

"Reservations under Xavier Red," he said. A waiter was soon there to escort them to their table.

"This is beautiful Xavier, but it must have cost a fortune," Kory said, looking around the wealthy restaurant. It looked like a place only rich people ate at, not a couple of college students.

"That doesn't matter, all that matters is that you enjoy yourself," Xavier said, smiling at her. After ordering, their food was soon there and the two were half way through their meals before Kory heard an all too familiar voice.

"How about you let me get the hell out of here? I don't care about this stupid dinner party or Ms. Moth," Richard's voice snapped at someone from another table. Kory's eyes darted over to where she heard the voice, and sure enough Richard was standing near a large table; glaring at Bruce. She dropped her fork, which she was using to eat her salad, and Xavier looked at her worriedly. It was then that he too caught sight of Richard and Bruce.

"Come on Kory, we can go," Xavier said, standing up and moving in front of Kory incase they looked over.

"You sure you don't mind? I hate putting all your efforts to waste," Kory said, standing up slowly, but never removing her eyes from Richard and Bruce.

"It's fine. I don't care about the cost or my efforts, I just want to get you out of here and away from _him_," Xavier said and Kory smiled at him.

"Thank you Xavier," she said and they began to walk toward the exit. Sadly, to get to the exit, the couple had to pass by Richard's and Bruce's table. Luckily, Richard's back was turned to them, but Bruce's wasn't and he caught eye sight with Kory.

"She may have been your life, but you obviously weren't hers. God Dick! Why do you have to be so dense! Kory loved you, but you hurt her and more than once. Don't you think this is hard on her too? Think back to all last year Richard and think of all the times that you've hurt her. I'm surprised she even got back together with you in the first place, let alone sleep with you," Bruce said, looking from Kory to Richard. Right away Kory knew that he had only said that because she was less than 5 feet away from Richard.

"You don't know anything about me or Kory!" Richard yelled and as he pulled back his fist, Kory ran over to him and grabbed hold of his arm. Richard looked over to her and his body began to lightly tremble when he caught sight of Kory.

"Kory," he whispered. Right now, all Kory wanted to do was what Richard had been trying to, punch Bruce in the face. He had seen her and knew that making Richard angry enough to punch him would bring Kory over.

"Come on Kory, I'll take you home," Xavier said, walking over to his girl friend who looked to be frozen as well as Richard, but he was still slightly trembling.

"What's _he _doing here?" Richard growled, recovering from his shock and glaring at Xavier. Once he spoke, Kory's mind began to regain feelings and she glared at Richard.

"Xavier took me out to dinner since it is my birthday," she said harshly, standing next to Xavier now.

"I know when your birthday is," Richard said, still glaring at Xavier.

"Well we really should be going now," Xavier said, taking hold of Kory's wrist while trying to leave.

"Where are you taking her?" Richard asked, taking hold of Kory's other wrist and holding her still.

"He's taking me home Richard," Kory said.

"Oh no he isn't. I'll take you home," Richard said, pulling Kory towards him.

"Let her go Grayson. She doesn't belong to you and she never did. Besides, I'm perfectly capable as her _boyfriend_ to take her home," Xavier said, glaring at the other male.

"You're with him now Kory?" Richard asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"What does it matter to you?" Kory snapped.

"Nothing I'm just surprised you went back to him," Richard said.

"Kinda like how she went back to you; surprising," Xavier said.

"Shut up Red. She isn't yours to talk about," Richard hissed.

"Personally I don't claim woman by having sex with them, but if that's how you want to claim Kory, then yes I can," Xavier said and Kory stared at him wide eyed before feeling Richard's grip on her wrist tighten.

"You slept with him?" he asked.

"Let me go Richard," Kory said, refusing to look at him. Richard's grip tightened on her wrist and she winced.

"Answer my question," Richard demanded.

"Let her go Grayson," Xavier said, glaring at him.

"Not until she answers my question!" Richard yelled.

"You're hurting me!" Kory yelled, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

"Answer my question!" Richard yelled.

"Yes! I slept with Xavier and if you want to know something else: Roy tried to rape me again! Xavier was there to help me!" Kory yelled, answering his question, but Richard never let go or loosened his grip.

"So you slept with him as a thank you?" he asked.

"I love him Richard!" Kory yelled and he finally let go of her. Kory stumbled away from him and Xavier caught her. Already her wrist was starting to bruise in the print of Richard's hand.

"This is what it's come to, isn't it? Us yelling at each other?" Richard asked, gazing the ground.

"We aren't even that Richard," Kory said before turning away from him and leaving with Xavier.

"I'm sorry Richard," Bruce said, returning to his son's side.

"It's fine. Where's Ms. Moth? I'll take her to the table," Richard said quietly.

"Are you sure? You can go back home if you want," Bruce offered.

"I'd rather be here, takes my mind off _certain_ things," Richard said before moving away from the older man and towards the group of guests that had arrived shortly before Kory and Xavier left. As Richard escorted Ms. Moth, or _Kitten_ as she liked to be called, he realized that she was a classic slut. From her fake boobs and nose job to her overly blonde hair and pink short dress.

_"Maybe this is what I needed? Something to use to get my mind off of Kory," _Richard thought as the night went on and he pretended to be listening to everything Kitten said in her annoyingly high voice. By the time the night was over, Richard had offered to take her home.

"I'd be better if we went to your place. My parents are **so** nosey," Kitten said with a giggle. Richard smirked and wrapped his arm around her overly small waist before taking her out side.

_"So this is how he decided to deal with his problems? Sleep around with other girls," _Bruce thought, disgusted as he watched Kitten and Richard make on the way back to the manor. Once there, Bruce made sure to stay away from Richard's room even though the couple didn't go there since it was a complete mess at the time.

The next morning Richard drove Kitten back home where he made a lunch date with her later that same day. Of course she agreed.

"See you tomorrow Richie-poo!" Kitten squealed before Richard pulled away from her mansion and drove back towards his own. On the way back, he drove by Kory's house, where he saw Xavier's bike parked in the driveway. It took all of his will power to drive on and not kick down her door and beat the shit out of him.

_"No, I need to get over her," _Richard thought and kept driving.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know it wasn't a lot, and kinda rushed, but I still think that it was a pretty good chapter. In the next chapter or so I'll be going back to Rachel so don't worry, I haven't suddenly put her out of the story. Also in the next chapter or so, school will be starting up again which just means a **whole** more of drama for them to have to deal with.

Good news too! I updated quicker this time! (6 days!) Since I got 6 reviews for updating Walking With The Damned earlier (and 6 reviews is a lot since for the last chapter I got like 3 reviews) I'm hoping that I'll get the same luck for this chapter.

Please review!

Kattie


	6. Thoughts

School was nearing and neither Richard nor Kory were looking forward to it. For Richard, it meant a new school and having to get used to it. For Kory, it meant having to deal with the loss of some of her friends. Another thing they shared was that they couldn't stop thinking about each other.

_"He ruined everything for me! From the very beginning he was just trouble waiting to happen," _Kory thought bitterly as she glared at the street in front of her. It had been a little over a week since Richard and Kory fought, but she was still in a **very** unpleasant mood.

_"At least I get to see Rachel today," _Kory thought, a happy thought entering her sad mind. Though the thought was not entirely good since she had not seen Rachel since her and Richard broke up at the hospital. At this point, Kory didn't know how Rachel was. All that she did know was that she was being released to go back to her home today.

"I'm here to see Rachel Roth," Kory told the receptionist.

"Room 125," the receptionist said before Kory headed towards the elevator. As she stood there and the elevator music played, Kory began to get nervous. It had been almost a month since she and Rachel had last talked, and she wasn't entirely sure how things would end up. All that Kory was hoping for was that they wouldn't get in another fight because she didn't need to lose another friend. On the subject of friends, Kory's thoughts drifted to Garfield and she became angry once again.

_"What an asshole. Just gets up and leaves Rachel after she lost her baby. He was the world to her and he just left. God! Are all men fucking assholes?!" _she thought. From those thoughts, Kory began to think of Xavier and she smiled.

_"He's so sweet and caring, but still with that rush because he's like a bad-boy," _she thought. The elevator stopped, signaling that Kory had reached her floor, and she was glad to leave the small box. Being in there gave her nothing to do but think, and right now, thinking was the last thing she wanted to do.

_"Just don't screw this up," _Kory thought as she took a deep breath while standing in front of room 125. Just as she was about to knock, the door opened and Rachel was standing there.

_"She's thinner then I remember," _Kory thought. She also noticed that her friend had dark rings around her eyes showing that she hadn't gotten much sleep over the past few weeks.

"Hey Rachel," Kory said weakly before Rachel practically collapsed into her arms crying.

"What's wrong Rachel?" Kory asked, though right away she knew it to be a stupid question.

"Nothing, I'm just so happy to see you," Rachel said, wiping away her tears with a smile on her pale face. Kory smiled in turn and her eyes began to water as well.

"You're gonna make me cry and then it'll ruin my make up," Kory said before both girls laughed.

_"God, it feels so good to laugh," _both girls thought.

"You ready to get out of this gross place?" Kory asked, taking hold of Rachel's hand while they walked back towards the elevator.

"You have no idea," Rachel said quietly.

"So what all has happened while I've been locked up here?" she asked once they were inside of the elevator.

"As you've probably heard, Richard and I have broken up; again," Kory said, an angry tone to her usually cheerful voice.

"You guys were kinda screaming at each other, so yeah, I heard. I'm sorry for what he did to you Kor," Rachel said.

"Don't worry, I'm over him and I've found somebody new," Kory said.

"So soon?" Rachel asked.

"It just felt so right and I really love him," Kory smiled.

"So who is it?" Rachel asked.

"I'm with Xavier again, and this time it will last because there will be no stupid Richard to ruin it," Kory said.

"You and Xavier did make a cute couple, but how do you know Richard will leave you alone?" Rachel asked.

"News has it that he's gotten together with the rich slut Kitten Moth," Kory said and her friend gasped.

"Yup, and even better they supposedly got together after him and I had yet **another** fight," Kory continued.

"You know, I used to love Richard as a brother almost, but now all I feel for him is hate. He's ruined your life **so** much and then just goes off and whores around with a bunch of girls like right after you two break up," Rachel said, crossing her arms across her chest. The elevator stopped and the two friends stepped out of it.

"Rachel Roth, I'm supposed to be checked out today," Rachel told the receptionist who nodded.

"Yes you are, but don't forget we want you back in a month to check on you," she said before the two friends left the hospital.

"Fresh air," Rachel said, taking in a deep breath. The sun was warm against her pale skin and she already felt better just being outside.

"Do you wanna stop by your place and then eat, or just go eat and then stop by your place?" Kory asked as they walked towards her car.

"I'd like to get out of these clothes, so my place please," Rachel said.

"No problem. Today, the world revolves around you," Kory said which earned a smile from her friend.

"Thanks Kory, I don't know what'd I do without you," Rachel said before they began to drive towards the Roth household.

"I'm back from the hospital," Rachel announced upon entering the large house. She wasn't really expecting to have her father come rushing to shower her in hugs and kisses, but her mother did.

"Oh I'm so glad to have you back!" her mother cried, joyful tears streaming from her eyes.

"I've missed you too Mom," Rachel said, hugging her mom in return.

"I should probably let you girls go now. You probably have the whole day planned out," Ariel said, pulling away from her daughter and wiping away her tears.

"Don't worry mom, I'll be back tonight and then we can talk," Rachel said with a smile before heading towards her room with Kory following.

"Do you mind if I take a quick shower? The smell of hospital is still on me," Rachel asked.

"No problem, I'll just wait in your room," Kory said before Rachel grabbed some clean clothes and left for the bathroom. Kory sat down on her friend's bed while looking around the bare room. Well, she couldn't really call it bare since it was practically **covered** with pictures of her and Gar.

_"It must be painful, having to come into her room and see him everywhere. Probably worse then me remembering Richard everywhere I go," _Kory thought, tears pricking in the corner of her eyes while she thought of what Rachel must be going through.

_"After everything that Rachel has gone through, she doesn't deserve this. It's bad enough with her father's abuse, but now she has to deal with the pain of Gar leaving her too," _she thought, wiping away her tears.

"I'm gonna make you happy again Rachel, I promise," Kory whispered to herself, before standing and leaving the room.

_"I'll just wait in the living room for her," _she thought and did just that.

"Richie-poo!" Kitten squealed, running towards him. Over the past week, Richard and Kitten had been seeing eachother practically every day.

_"I'll just be glad when school starts and I'll be able to get away from her," _Richard thought, putting on a smirk when his 'girlfriend' got near him. Everything about the relationship was fake. Richard didn't love her, and was only using her to clear his mind of thoughts of Kory. (Though it didn't work very well) Kitten was only with him because he was hot and rich. Neither of them wanted any real bonds and that's what made them perfect for each other.

"Why do you never smile Richie-poo?" Kitten asked.

_"Because I have you screaming in my ear every second of every fucking day," _Richard wanted to tell her, but instead left it with a shrug.

"I see no reason to smile," he told her, which was also the truth. Since Kory was no longer really a part of his life, Richard saw nothing worth smiling at. She had been his smile, his joy.

_"But that doesn't matter anymore. She's with Xavier again and I have Kitten," _Richard thought and couldn't help but laugh. He knew that Xavier would be good to Kory, so she had lucked out. It was just a misfortune that he got stuck with Kitten, a low-life whore.

_"I could always break up with her at any time I choose," _Richard then thought, realizing that he wasn't necessarily _stuck_ with Kitten.

_"It's better than being left alone with nothing to do but think about Kory and trash my room," _he thought before being jared from him thoughts.

"Are you even listening to me Dick?!" Kitten asked angrily.

"I zoned out," Richard said.

"You're always doing that! It better not be because of that stupid Anders girl," Kitten snapped and Richard fought down the urge to slap her.

_"She has no right to even _think_ about talking about Kory like that," _he thought, glaring at her through his sunglasses. That was another new thing he had picked up after starting to date Kitten; he wore sunglasses a lot more. The main reason behind it was so that he could zone out and nobody would really notice by looking at his eyes. It was also nice to be able to let his eyes wander to the other females without Kitten screaming at him.

_"It's times like these that I miss having Gar around to talk to," _Richard thought and felt a pang of guilt. Him and Gar had ended on a bit of a sour note, and Richard feared that that was what Gar used to remember him by; their stupid fight.

_"Though it wasn't a stupid fight. With everything that was going on, that fight was like right on target," _Richard thought.

"God damn it Dick! You never fucking pay attention to me!" Kitten screamed, once again dragging Richard from his thoughts.

"Maybe it's because you're always screaming in my ears and are constantly being annoying," Richard snapped, fed up with her. Kitten glared at him, but Richard ignored her and turned away. They were supposed to be going to lunch, but right now, Richard just wanted to be alone.

"You'll regret this Richard Grayson! Just you wait! In a week you'll be crawling back to me!" Kitten screamed at him while Richard walked away. Once again, he ignored her and continued towards his car.

I know it's not super eventful, but things are leading up. Thanks for the reviews I got for the last chapter! I got 4 reviews which is more than I've been getting, so thanks to those who did review. To those who didn't, please do review! I love to hear your thoughts!

Please review!

Kattie


	7. Go Away

For lunch, the two girls decided that they would go somewhere simple, but not some crappy fast food place. They came to agreement to eat at a small corner restaurant that wasn't in the heart of the city.

"We should go there more often, it was nice," Kory said while they walked back to her car.

"It'd be nice too, but school is starting up again in a week. There might not be a lot of time," Rachel said with a sigh.

"Rachel, are you gonna be coming to school this year? I know you talked about taking it off since you'd have to watch over the baby, but," Kory stopped there, knowing that if she kept talking it may hurt her friend.

"I guess I don't have any reason not to, so yeah. We can be roomies again," Rachel said, a clearly fake smile on her lips.

"I know that it'll be hard, but it should be good for you; help take your mind off things," Kory said.

"Yeah, and that's really what I need right now," Rachel agreed before they reached the car. Kory got into the driver's seat with Rachel in the passenger seat, and the car drove out of the small parking lot.

"I can't believe school is starting in a week," Rachel said, staring out the window while Kory drove them home.

"I'm glad summer is almost over. This ones been kinda a crappy one," Kory said, thinking about what happened to Rachel and her and Richard's break up.

"Kinda crappy? Try down right pile of shit crappy," Rachel said and Kory couldn't help but laugh at her friend's comment.

"I think Xavier is staying in a dorm this year, so I'll be able to see him everyday," Kory said with a smile.

"Just don't have unprotected sex," Rachel said, not a trace of humor in her tone. Kory looked over at her friend and nodded.

"I'll be careful Rachel," she said before the car came to a halt at a stop light. Rachel, who was still looking out of the window, gasped which quickly caught Kory's attention.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Is that _Richard_?" Rachel asked, pointing out the window at a young man with black spiky hair and wearing sun glasses walking towards an expensive car. Kory quickly caught sight of the mystery man and knew right away that he was Richard.

"It doesn't matter," she said flatly, wishing that the light would turn so that they could just get the hell out of there.

"Looks like he just left his date," Rachel said and Kory couldn't help but look back over to see Kitten screaming at him while stomping her high heel.

"Kitten Moth, high class whore. I bet they've already fu-slept together," Kory said, stopping herself from swearing since she knew Rachel didn't like it.

"I'm sorry for pointing him out Kor," Rachel said, looking away from the window. Though she looked away, Kory kept staring at Richard as he got into his car and turned into the street so that he was now waiting at the same light they were, just at the other side of the street.

"Its fine, I don't care about him anymore. He was just using me from the beginning and it was stupid of me to have even trusted him. Richard was just lying to me from the beginning," Kory said, staring into the dark windows of the car she knew Richard was in.

_"I'll never forgive you for everything you've done to me."_

**0000000000000000000000000**

"Stupid fucking whore," Richard muttered bitterly to himself while he walked away from Kitten. Right now all he wanted to be was as far away from her as possible.

_"She was just a stupid mistake that I can find a replacement for in week at the most," _Richard thought as he started his car and pulled out of the crowded parking lot.

"Have fun finding a ride home," he mumbled.

_"Probably just find some rich playboy in the restaurant and get a ride from him. To thank him, she'll just fuck him," _Richard thought. He turned into the street and stopped at the red light while glaring out the window. It was when Richard looked forward that he caught sight of something very interesting.

"Kory?" he asked himself. Sure enough, Kory was there on the other side of the street waiting at the same light he was.

_"Rachel must be out of the hospital," _Richard thought when he saw said person in the passenger seat next to Kory. His heart gave a painful lurch when he thought of everything he'd done to Kory.

_"I'm so stupid for saying those things. That's not what I meant, it's just how it came out," _Richard thought, still staring at her. The light changed to green without him acknowledging it and as Kory drove towards him, their eyes met for a split second before she was gone and Richard was jarred from his thoughts by the sound of honking horns. He quickly stepped on the gas and went speeding down the street, hoping that if he drove away from her fast enough, his painful memories wouldn't be able to catch up with him.

**0000000000000000000000000**

It had just been a split second that their eyes had met, but Kory had seen the pain in his expression. Sure she couldn't see his eyes, due to the sunglasses, but that didn't stop her from seeing the hurt on his face.

_"Probably thinking of how badly he's fucked up with me," _Kory thought, her grip on the steering while tightening.

"Squeeze it any tighter and you might crush it," Rachel said, looking at her friend's white knuckles.

"Sorry," Kory mumbled, loosening her grip on the wheel and letting out a deep breath.

"You may think that you hate him, but it still hurts when reminded of him. Trust me when I say that the hurt doesn't go away easily, I've had first hand experience," Rachel said, her voice getting quieter towards the end.

"Thank you Rachel. It's just that I know it won't go away easily, but I want it to so bad. More than anything I want this pain I get whenever I see him to just go away and leave me alone. I don't want these thoughts about Richard and how he showed me love only to find out it was just a lie. It makes me realize just how stupid I was for taking him back, for believing every fucking thing he ever told me," Kory said, angry tears forming in my eyes.

_"No, I won't cry. He isn't worth it," _she thought, but that didn't stop the tears from falling freely.

_"I want to comfort her, but she needs to get through this on her own. If she doesn't, she'll never learn," _Rachel thought, looking out of her window once again. The rest of the ride was in silence and when the car pulled up at Rachel's house, she still sat in the car.

"It was good to see you again Kory," Rachel said quietly.

"Yeah, I'll see you when school starts," Kory said, wiping away her tears. Rachel gave her a pitied look before getting out of the car. Once Rachel was inside of her parents' house, Kory drove away, but instead of going towards her house, she headed for Xavier's.

**0000000000000000000000000**

"I hate him Xavier, I hate him so much!" Kory yelled, crying into her boyfriend's shoulder.

"It's okay Kory, he's not here. You'll never have to see him again," Xavier said, stroking her long hair.

"Not here in person, but he's always in my damn thoughts! Always laughing at me for believing everything he ever said to me! I'll never be rid of him," Kory said, knowing that what she said was the truth.

_"He'll always be a part of me; wither I like it or not. I can't be rid of him ever, but I don't know if that's a bad thing… or a good thing," _she thought, actually scared of her own thoughts and feelings.

"Then after you're done with school, you can just move away and never have to see him again," Xavier suggested.

"I can't just move away, my whole life is in Jump City," Kory said. The thought of moving away frightened her more than her unknown feelings for Richard.

"Maybe he'll just move away then," he said.

"Richard move away? He would never. He'd rather stay here just to ruin my life even more," Kory said bitterly.

"You don't honestly think that he'll be hung over you his whole life do you? It will only be a matter of time before Richard gets married to some slut to help his daddy with the business. Then he won't have time to think of you. He'll have to worry about Wayne Industries, keeping Bruce alive in his old age, and keeping his whore of a wife from sleeping around. You'll be free of him then," Xavier said.

"Who's to say I won't hear about him in the news one day and have all of the memories come flooding back to me? I wouldn't be able to deal with that for the rest of my life," Kory said quietly.

"I can't say anything for sure, but you can still have hope. The only reason I haven't gone over to his house and killed him yet is because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I got hauled off to jail and left you alone for even a minute," Xavier said, "You may not see it, but it kills me, and fills me with rage to see you like this. To know that that stupid bastard is making you break down and hurt almost everyday, but is still alive brings to the point of near insanity. He has no right to be on the same planet as you after everything he's done to you. I would end his life now if I knew that it wouldn't hurt you, if I knew that I wouldn't hurt _me_, to be away from you. I love you so much Kory, but sometimes I think you don't know it."

Kory looked up at him through watery eyes and saw everything that he had spoken of in his eyes. Xavier did want to kill Richard, for everything he'd done to Kory, and she saw that in his eyes. She saw his love for her. A sparkle that Kory sometimes just ignores thinking that it's a trick of the light. But even with that sparkle, Xavier's eyes were still dark, dark with rage. His never ending rage for Richard.

"Maybe I couldn't see it before, but I see it now Xavier. I'm so greatful that I have you. I love you just as much," Kory said before kissing his lips softly. The kiss was gentle and chaste, and when they pulled away Kory rested her head on Xavier's hard chest. Together they lay on the couch, happy and content just in the other's company.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Sorry for the long wait for an update! In social studies we started this huge project that is due on Wednesday so I've been working on that for like the past week. (and that was just taking notes) **

**Also, spring break is coming up, and though that would normally give me more time to write, I'll be on a seven day cruise to Mexico so I won't really be able to write. So the next update may not be for like another three weeks.**

**Yes I know that's a long way away, but I'll try to write some of it before I leave for the cruise so that I can finish it faster when I get back from it.**

**Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews and please review for this chapter!**

**Kattie**


	8. Let The Distractions Begin

"Time to wake up Kory. First day of school," Carmen said cheerfully as she turned on the lights in her little sister's room. Kory groaned before turning over and pulling the pillow over her head.

"Now that's not the spirit I'm looking forward to! Come on Kory, get up! You're going back to school! Won't you be glad to be seeing Xavier and Rachel every single day?" she asked, pulling the blankets off of trying-to-sleep sister.

"Oh my god! I forgot to pack!" Kory cried, sitting up in her bed and hitting her head against Carmen's.

"What the hell Kory?! How could you forget to-ouch! Why the hell is your head so fucking hard?!" Carmen yelled, glaring at Kory while she held her throbbing head.

"No time to answer that! I have to pack! Xavier said that he'd be over to pick me up at 8!" Kory yelled while pulling her suitcases out from under her bed and throwing clothes into it. While throwing clothes into her suitcases, she caught a glance at the clock, but wished she hadn't. It was 7 o'clock and she was supposed to be packed and showered in an hour.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Kory kept muttering to herself while throwing clothes into her suitcases.

"Could you help me out Carmen?" she asked her still-in-pain sister.

"Are you serious?! Not after your rock-of-a-head hit mine!" Carmen yelled back before leaving the room while cursing under her breath about her pounding head.

_"Thanks a lot Carmen," _Kory thought, rolling her eyes, before getting right back to work. By the time she had finished packing, it was 7:20.

"Okay, I should have enough time to take a shower," she said to herself while grabbing some clothes that she hadn't packed and heading for the bathroom. After Kory had finished with her shower and was dressed, it was 7:54.

"Thank God, 6 minutes left," she said, flopping down on her bed to rest.

"Toiletries!" Kory suddenly cried, jumping up from her bed and running back into the bathroom. She grabbed a small bag from under the sink and began to stuff her toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, and things like that into it.

"Kory, Xavier's here," Carmen yelled from downstairs.

"Tell him to come up and help me with my bags!" Kory yelled back, still stuffing her makeup into the bag.

"And to think I thought you would consider packing light," a voice said from the bathroom doorway.

"She stuffed like her whole closet in there this morning because she forgot to pack last night," Carmen said, walking towards her room.

"You forgot to pack?" Xavier asked, an obvious amused smirk on his face.

"Good to see you too Xavier," Kory said, zipping up the final bag and turning to face her boyfriend.

"I never said I didn't miss you," he said before pulling her against his chest.

"You looking forward to this year?" Kory asked, staring up at him.

"More than you know," Xavier replied before kissing his girlfriend's lips.

"No making out while I'm around," Carmen said, passing by the bathroom. The couple pulled away quickly and once she was gone, began to laugh.

"Come on, you can help me carry my bags," Kory said, taking hold of the bag in one hand, and Xavier's hand in the other.

"I'm not so sure I like the idea of that," he mumbled, but followed her all the same.

"So this is what I was thinking. I'll carry these two bags," Kory explained, pointing at the smallest two, "and you'll carry those two."

"At least I get one small one," Xavier said, looking at the hugely massive one and then the smaller one that he was assigned to carry.

"What are these bags full of anyway?" he asked while struggling down the stairs with the suitcases.

"Well my two are filled with toiletries and shoes. Yours are full of clothes and undergarments," Kory said, a sly smile on her lips. Xavier looked at her and then back at the bags before repeating.

"Fuck," he hissed, feeling his 'friend's sudden interest.

"Hurry up Xavier, you wouldn't want to waste time would you?" Kory asked, glancing back at her boyfriend who seemed to be frozen on the stairs.

"Huh?" Xavier asked, coming back to the real world.

"Oh yeah, school," he said before continuing down the stairs and towards his dad's car.

"You sure all of this will fit in there?" Kory asked, following behind.

"I'll find some way to make it," Xavier said before looking back at the car.

_"This is gonna be fun," _he thought, looking back at the suitcases.

**0000000000000000000000000**

"Hurry up Richard, or you'll be late," Bruce yelled from the car while his adopted son carried his luggage out.

"Well you know this isn't exactly light!" Richard yelled back, peeved that he even had to go to some new school.

_"Everything was fine before Bruce decided to transfer my schools. If he hadn't done that, I'd probably be driving Kory to school right now, but no, I'm here carrying my luggage to the car and Xavier is probably giving Kory a ride," _he thought bitterly. Once all of Richard's luggage was finally in the car, they began to long drive towards his new school.

"Why's the school so far away? My old school was like ten minutes away and we've been driving for the past half hour," Richard asked, looking at the unfamiliar sights.

"I just wanted to get you further away from your old school so that there was no chance of you getting distracted from your work," Bruce said calmly.

"Being away from Kory and my friends won't stop me from getting distracted. I'll just think about them all the time and get distracted," Richard countered, looking out of the tinted window with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Richard you need to get over them. They were doing nothing but drag you down."

"I can't just get over them! I can't just get over _her_! They were always there for me and she was the love of my life! How would you even know what it feels like to lose something you love?!" Richard yelled, fed up with everything Bruce was telling him.

"I have lost something I loved, I lost my parents. When I was younger, they were shot and killed," Bruce said, trying to calm down his rebellious son.

"So what, I lost my parents in a car crash. What does it make any difference? We've both lost our parents, but thanks to you, I've lost them and my friends, and Kory! So why don't you just keep your sympathy to yourself and leave me alone. You've already done enough," Richard spat and the car feel silent. When they finally reached the school, Richard stepped out of the car quickly and let out a sigh.

_"Doesn't look that bad," _he thought. The school was a rich, preppy-kid school. Most of the students walking around looked like they didn't get out of bed for more than a couple grand. The guys all had their hair slicked back and were walking around in suits with the smell of strong cologne following them. As for the girls, they were the complete opposite of the guys. Their skirts were hitched up high, showing off much more than what was meant to be shown. Most of their shirts were too tight with their bras showing through the white shirt or it wasn't buttoned up all the way and their breasts were practically falling out of their tops.

_"Looks like a school Kitten belongs at," _Richard thought before his ears were shattered by a scream.

"**RICHIE-POO!!**" Kitten screamed, running over to him.

"You never told me _she_ went here," Richard hissed to Bruce who was busy looking at the school buildings.

"Never knew, but at least now you have somebody to show you around. She can take us to the attendance office," Bruce said before Kitten had her arms wrapped around Richard's neck.

"Just play along," she whispered into his ear before kissing him passionately. Deciding that he would do as she said, Richard kissed her back with just as much passion and let his hands wander to her ass which he gave a grope.

"I didn't know you were going here!" Kitten squealed louder than normally.

_"She obviously just wants to been seen in the arms of me," _Richard thought, knowing that they were both just using each other.

"Well it's a good thing I decided to switch schools. Now I can spend my time with you," he said, his voice husky from the kiss.

"Do you want me to show you around?" Kitten asked, taking hold of Richard's hand.

"That would be very kind of you Kathren," Bruce said, using her real name.

"Please, call me Kitten, and it would be my pleasure," Kitten said, a fake smile on her paid for face. While she showed Richard and Bruce around, their driver followed behind with Richard's bags.

_"Maybe I'll be lucky and she show him to his room first," _the driver thought while dragging the heavy bags behind him. Seemed that Lady Luck was not on his side because that was the **last** thing Kitten showed them after more than an hour long tour.

"Well enjoy your new school Richard," Bruce said before him and the driver left.

"Thanks for the tour," Richard muttered, turning away from Kitten and opening the door to his dorm.

"You can't thank me yet," Kitten said, following him into his dorm and locking the door behind her.

"Why not?" Richard asked, kicking off his shoes and sitting down on a chair. His eyes wandered around his dorm tiredly and without much interest.

"I haven't given you my welcome present yet," Kitten said and when Richard looked back over to her, he was surprised to find her naked. Slowly Kitten walked towards him until she climbed onto the chair and was straddling Richard's groin.

"You glad now you left that dumpy school?" she asked before her lips were on his in a lustful kiss. At the mention of his old school, Richard's thoughts began to drift to all of his friends.

_"I need to get over that. At least now with school starting, I'll be able to keep myself distracted," _Richard thought, his body moving without him really registering what was going on. Finally Richard came back to reality when he felt Kitten's fingers began to trail down his chest until her hand slipped into his pants.

_"If this is what I need to be distracted, then let the distractions begin."_

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**I am SOOOO sorry for the long wait for an update!! (**that kinda rhymed!**) I know that the chapter didn't have much in it and that it wasn't all that long, but I needed to get a new chapter posted before my readers came after me with big guns. **

**Please review and I promise that the next chapter won't take almost a month to update!**

**Kattie**


	9. Recap

"We're not room mates?!" Kory practically yelled. She had just gotten to the college with Xavier when they found Rachel and she told them the bad news.

"Yeah, I went to check what my room number was and once I got to my room, there was somebody else in there," Rachel said.

"Then who am I supposed to room with?" Kory asked, crossing her arms across her chest in frustration.

"I don't know, but I checked what room number you were, and you have room 342," Rachel said.

"Might as well go find out who I have to be spending the rest of the year with," Kory sighed before taking her things.

"I'm gonna go drop my things off and then come find you," Xavier told her before going off in the opposite direction.

"How much did you pack Kory?" Rachel asked as she helped her friend with her suitcases.

"Well I forgot to pack last night, so I pretty much threw everything in this morning," Kory said, smiling sheepishly. Rachel rolled her eyes. The girls carried the suitcases through the halls and were very happy when they finally reached room 342.

"Moment of truth," Kory said, out of breath. She went to open the door, but found that she couldn't.

"Since when have there been locks on the doors?" she asked, glaring at the key slot on the doorknob.

"I can watch your stuff while you go get it," Rachel offered.

"Let's try knocking first," Kory suggested before raising her fist and bringing it down on the wooden door. She repeated this a few times before the door finally opened.

"Oh sorry, I forgot I locked it," a girl said, pulling open the door all the way. Not even bothering to get a good look at the new girl yet, Kory and Rachel brought in the luggage and put it on the empty side of the room. When both were sitting on the bed, the finally looked to see who the room mate was.

The girl was tall, a little above average height, with dark redish-brown straight hair that ended a little past her shoulders. Her eyes were a light brow, almost hazel color, that her hair complemented. Skin wise, she was tan and flawless, except for the piercing in her nose. She was wearing a white t-shirt and jean skits with white flip flops.

"I'm Barbara Gordon, but you can call me Babs. I guess we'll be rooming together this year," she said, smiling at the two seated girls.

"I'm Kory Anders, it's a pleasure to meet you," Kory said, smiling as well.

"Sorry again about locking the door, I just say some _odd _people outside in the halls and didn't really wanna take any chances," Barbara said, giving the open door wary looks.

"Its fine, I just wasn't expecting there to be locks on the doors since they weren't here last year," Kory muttered, once again glaring at the doorknob.

"So this isn't your first year?" Barbara asked.

"No, is it yours?"

"Yeah, that's kinda why I locked the door. I don't know what goes on here, or what to expect, so I just thought that'd it be better to be on the safe side."

"Well you'll have to get used to unsafe things if you're rooming with Kory. She's like a drama magnet," Rachel said, standing from the bed.

"I'll call you later Kor," she then said before leaving the room to return to her own.

"Rachel is just over exaggerating," Kory said, unpacking her things while Barbara closed, and locked, the door once again.

"I hope so. During middle school I had to deal with a lot of drama and I'm just fed up with it from then," she said, sitting down on her own bed.

"How much drama?" Kory asked, fearing that maybe this new girl **wouldn't **be able to handle her life style.

"Well one of my friends got cheated on, another was thinking about having sex, a couple of them were smoking, and others were drinking all of the time. On top of that, most of my friends were cutting themselves. I was actually the only one that managed to stay pretty clean except for picking up a few bad habits like swearing and being a bit of a slut," Barbara summarized.

"You should be able to handle what's going on with me then. Just one question: are you a virgin?" Kory asked and her new room mate looked up at her with a blush on her face.

"No," Barbara said, her blush worsening.

"That just makes you all the more ready to handle what goes on in my life," Kory said.

"What does go on in your life? I don't mean to be nosey, but it'd be nice to know what I'll have to deal with. That and so that I'm not completely out of the loop," Barbara asked, crossing her legs.

"It started last year when I first came to collage and found out that my boyfriend, Richard Grayson had been cheating on me my senior year while we were still together. So obviously we broke up, but I still loved him. My plan was to get him jealous by going out with Roy, his room mate, but that ended up with Roy trying to rape me. Luckily Richard was there to save me, but it ended up looking the wrong way when Rachel came looking for me. Even though he saved me, we still ended up getting in a fight the next day because he said I was over reacting about what Roy tried to do to me," Kory began.

"Did you tell the police that Roy tried to rape you?" Barbara asked, staring at her wide eyed.

"Well no, because I was still too nice for my own good back then. But he's behind bars now after he tried to rape me once again. Anyway, where was I?"

"You and Richard got in a fight," Barbara said.

"Oh yeah, so after the fight, I found out that Rachel was pregnant with her boyfriend, Garfield's, baby. They were still together at the time, so I decided that we should go celebrate, but they thought it was best that Richard comes too. I ended up getting stuck with Richard driving me to restaurant we were going to eat at. Dinner went well, but I ended up getting completely wasted which led me and Richard to almost having sex on the beach. At the time I was still a virgin, we were broken up, but I was madly in love with him, so you can imagine how that went," Kory said, looking over to see her new room mate still watching her closely.

"After what happened on the beach, Richard and I ended up being close friends again. I soon found out that Rachel didn't plan on coming back to collage next year because of the baby, and that Gar would only be here for school, but not staying in a dorm. Naturally, I wasn't very happy about that, especially when I found out that they were leaving Richard 'in charge' of me. So I ran off and ended up on the roof where I met Xavier, my current boyfriend. We hit it off right away, so I asked what room he was in. Turns out that he was actually going to be Richard's new room mate since Roy was switching rooms."

"I bet Richard wasn't too happy about that," Barbara interrupted.

"Not at all. After I introduced them, Xavier offered to take me out to lunch which I accepted. Richard didn't trust me so he followed us around, but I finally noticed him when we were at the movie we went to see after lunch. Of course I was pissed that he didn't trust me with Xavier, so we got into a huge fight right in the middle of the movie, and it ended with me leaving with Xavier. The next day, I decided to go talk to him so that I could get an explanation for him following me.

"When I finally did find Richard, he decided to be a total asshole towards me because of what happened at the movies. We ended up getting in yet _another _fight where he said that the only reason anyone even wanted to be my friend was because I had a nice body and they wanted to get in my pants. I ended up slapping him before leaving and crying when I got back to my dorm. Gar found me and offered to go talk to Richard, so he did.

"Turns out that Gar's version of talking is beating the crap out of someone. He ended up throwing Richard into my room until he said he was sorry. So having nothing else to do, we talked and ended up getting back together. You'd think that now that we're finally back together, things would get better, right? Well they didn't when Richard started acting strange. He seemed to be keeping something from me, so I thought that he was cheating on me again. I talked to Rachel and she told me that I should talk to him before just assuming that he was cheating on me. When I went to talk to him, I told him that I felt we were drifting further apart instead of closer, and then I broke up with him."

"But I thought you wanted to be with him?" Barbara interrupted once again.

"I thought so too, but he was keeping things from me and it just didn't feel right. So after we broke up, I went up to the roof again and found Xavier there. We started talking and I guess some girl say us because she went running into the halls saying that I had gotten together with him. Richard heard her and of course was pissed, so he came up to the roof. Without even bothering to listen to what I was saying about me not going out with Xavier, Richard went over to him and punched him. This turned into a fight, but ended when Xavier was hit off the roof by Richard."

"Oh my God!" Barbara shrieked, holding her hands over her mouth.

"I went down to help Xavier out of the tree he fell into, but ended up falling myself. Later that same day, I woke up in a hospital only to find out that Xavier was in a coma. I got out of the hospital a couple of days later, but still refused to talk to Richard. Three weeks later, Xavier woke up from his coma just before school ended. So I ended up going to visit him pretty much every day, and one day we ended up kissing.

"When I got back to school, I told Rachel that I loved Xavier and not Richard anymore, but I didn't know that Richard was outside our door and heard. I tried to talk to him, but I guess he was really sad so he just ignored me. Xavier and I ended up getting together which only made Richard madder, so I guess you could say that we weren't friends any more. So the year ended with Xavier and I together, and with Richard and I once again not talking to each other," Kory finished.

"That all happened in one year?" Barbara asked her.

"Uh yeah, but more happened over the summer," Kory said before telling her everything that happened over the summer.

"Richard won't be here this year, will he?" Barbara asked her when Kory was done telling the story.

"No, he's at another school with his slut of a girl friend," Kory said bitterly.

"Then I should be able to deal with everything. He seems to be what attracts all the drama anyway, so with him gone, it shouldn't be as bad," Barbara said, smiling.

"Glad you see it that way Barbara," Kory said, smiling as well.

"You can call me Babs," she said before there was a knock on the door. Kory got up from her bed and unlocked the door.

"Hey Xavier," she said, giving him a peck on the lips before pulling him into the room.

"This is my new room mate, Barbara," Kory introduced.

"Hi, you can call me Babs," Barbara said, smiling at him.

"Xavier Red," Xavier said, nodding at her.

"I just finished telling her about everything that happened last year, but I'm really hungry," Kory said.

"How about we go out to eat? We can get Rachel to come too," Xavier suggested, earning a smile from his girl friend.

"Great idea Xavier. Do you want to come to Babs?" Kory asked, turning to her new room mate.

"I don't want to be a burden," she said.

"You won't be. We're friends now, and as your friend, I can't allow you to just sit around in our room. So get dressed while we go get Rachel," Kory said, and Barbara smiled at her.

"Thanks Kory," she said before going over to her clothes and picking out something to wear.

"We'll be back soon," Kory said before taking Xavier's hand and leaving the room.

"So, any idea where Rachel's room is?" Xavier asked as they wandered the halls.

"Nope, but I will," Kory said before pulling out her cell phone. She quickly sent a text message to Rachel asking for her room number.

"All that we have to do is wait for her to reply," Kory said, stopping in the middle of the hall.

"Hey Kory," Rachel said, causing said girl to jump.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Kory asked, turning around to face her friend.

"My room, it's 369. I was just on my way to get something to eat," Rachel said.

"Not anymore because you're coming out to eat with us. We just have to stop by at my dorm to get Barbara," Kory said, taking hold of her friend's hand and beginning to walk back to her room. Xavier followed next to them, hands in his pockets.

"She's coming with us?" Rachel asked.

"Yup. I told her what happened last year with Richard and it didn't scare her off. So I invited her to dinner with us since she doesn't have any friend yet," Kory said before knocking on her room door.

"You still haven't gotten the key yet?" Rachel asked.

"No, haven't had the time, but I'll get it on the way out," Kory said before the door opened.

"Ready to go Barbara?" she asked.

"Yeah, let me just grab my purse," Barbara said, going back into the room only to come back out moments later.

"Let me just say that you should have switched rooms when you had the chance," Rachel said to Babs as they walked down the halls towards the elevators.

"Why?" Babs asked, obviously confused.

"Because you don't know what you're getting yourself into, but I guess you'll find out soon," Rachel said falling silent.

"You coming Babs?" Kory asked from inside the elevator, smiling at her. Barbara looked at her, thinking about Rachel's words, before smiling back and getting in.

_"Richard is gone, so it can't be that bad," _she thought, but little did she know just how bad it could get.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

**So I have brought in a new character, Barbara Gordon, or better known as Babs. You all should know that something is going to come from this. The drama will start very soon, I promise, and Richard is going to be in the next chapter.**

**Thanks for the review!**

**Kattie**


	10. Hold Me Back

Dinner had gone well. Barbara talked with them and they all laughed like a group of friends, which they were.

"We should go out since the night is still young," Kory said as they all pulled out some money to pay for the bill.

"You thinking about going clubbing?" Rachel asked, reading her friend's signs. It was amazing how much Rachel had changed now that Gar was gone from her life. She was more out going now, and wasn't as quiet, but that wasn't exactly a good thing because it meant that she was changing to cover up the gapping whole he had left her with.

"I was in fact thinking that, but before we go anywhere, we need to change because there is no way I'm going clubbing in this," Kory said, gesturing towards her t-shirt and jeans.

"Oh yeah, we need to do some major changing first," Rachel agreed.

"You two up for some fun tonight?" Kory asked, turning to Xavier and Barbara. Both of them nodded.

"Then lets hurry up and get out of here!" she said before grabbing Xavier's hand and running towards the car.

"You ready for a long night?" Rachel asked Barbara, but without even waiting for an answer, she ran off towards the car too. Barbara just watched their backs before deciding that it might be best to hurry up, and she went running after them.

**00000000000000000**

"I never thought homework could get any worse, but it seems I've been proven wrong," Richard grumbled, tapping his pencil against the table while some of his new 'friends' around him laughed.

"If you had it so easy at your other school, then why'd you leave?" one of them, Kenneth, or as they call him, Kennet, said. He was lean African American that just so happened to be a pyro maniac. Him and Richard had three classes together and seemed to get along pretty well provided that both of them have fiery tempers.

"Had no choice, that's why. My adoptive father forced me to switch schools because he thought that I would be distracted," Richard muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Distracted by what? There must have been something pretty fine over at that school to keep you distracted," Mario, one of the younger kids who was tutoring Richard in languages, said with a laugh.

"Personally, I don't think fine even _begins _to describe her," Richard said, thinking back to all of her perfect smiles.

"Then describe her man. Don't leave a brother hangin'," Kennet said.

"She's a tall, tan, goddess with long crimson hair and bright emerald eyes. With long legs and a curvy body, she's wanted by everybody, but I'm one of the few who got her," Richard described briefly, but knew that it gave her no justice.

"So what was the beauty's name?" Mario asked.

"Kory Anders and the scary thing is that I fell for her, and hard. Bruce thought that I'd be distracted because of her, so he made me switch schools to get away from her, though I can't seem to get her off my mind now. She's all I think about really and it's driving me insane to not be able to see her," Richard told them, and it was the truth.

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear the day when Richard Grayson fell in love. So why were you so distracted by her?" Kennet asked, curious about this woman.

"Well her best friend had just lost her baby due to a car crash and then the father walked out on her, so Kory was all caught up in that," Richard said.

"That doesn't answer my question," Kennet said. By now, the boys had long forgotten their homework, but that didn't much matter to any of them.

"We were going out in high school, but I was a year ahead of her. So I went on to college while she finished up her senior year in high school. Things probably would have worked out if I hadn't been cheating on her and then broke up with her the first day she was at college," Richard told them, though he looked as though he was almost talking to himself.

"Why'd you cheat on her if you're in love with her?" Mario asked, obviously not understanding his friend's actions.

"Well it took me a while to actually realize that I did love her. It actually took me the entire first year while she was with other guys to finally realize it, but by then she was head over heals in love with another guy. Somehow, I managed to steal her heart back, and she gave it up for me."

"That explains why you cheated on her! You weren't getting any because she was still a virgin," Kennet said.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, then her close friend got into the car crash that made her lose her baby. She was in the hospital with the father long gone since he walked out on her and I chose then to tell Kory about Bruce's decision. We ended up getting into a fight and I said something that made it sound like I only wanted her for her sex. Obviously we broke up, but I saw her again on her birthday. By then, she was back with Xavier, a fucking scum bag, so I had to see him again too. Once again, we got into a fight and I haven't seen her since," Richard finally finished.

"You are an idiot," Mario said after silence.

"To let go of something that you truly love without even so much as a fight is stupid," he then added which earned him a glare from Richard.

"You don't think I tried to get her back? I was trying all fucking _summer _to get her back! So until you've done what I've done, keep your thoughts to yourself," Richard snapped before picking up his things.

"Aw come on Richard, don't go back to your room and study. You need to get out to clear your mind and I know just the place to go," Kennet said. Richard turned to look at him before sighing and putting his things back down.

"Fine. Where are we going?" he asked.

"Where all guys go when they need to get away."

"Welcome to Temptation, and let me just say that this is not the last time you'll be here," Kory said while the lights flashed around them. They had just arrived at a popular night club and even though it was on the early side, things were in full swing. Barbara looked around in awe while Rachel just stood beside her excited friend.

"Come on, lets go get a table," Xavier said, taking Kory's hand and pulling her towards the bar.

"I thought you said a table, not the bar," Kory said, but followed him all the same.

"There's no point in going to a table and then getting back up to get drinks if you can just get them now," he informed them of his plan. Soon, the group of four each had their drinks and were heading towards one of the empty tables.

"Looks like someone is getting lucky tonight," Kory whispered to Barbara, looking at the table behind them. From what they could see, there a guy being straddled by a girl while they made out.

"Oh," was Barbara's only reply while a blush crept over her cheeks.

"Come on, lets go dance," Kory announced, grabbing hold of Rachel and pulling her towards the crowded dance floor.

"Watch the table, I'll be right back," Xavier told Barbara who didn't look like she was going to move anyway. He then left the table and looked as though he was headed towards the bar again. Barbara looked down at the dance floor to try and find her new friends, but only caught a glimpse of crimson hair before it was gone. Having nothing else to do, Barbara looked back at the table behind her to find that the female was now gone, but the male remained. He was sipping at a beer and when he put it down, their eyes met. Before either could move, two other males joined him and Barbara turned away.

**0000000000000000000**

"So how you liking Temptation so far?" Kennet asked before picking up one of the many beers on the table and drinking from it.

"I've been here before, so it's nothing new," Richard said, leaning back in his seat.

"Yeah well it'd probably be a lot better if you hadn't brought Kitten along with you. Now you have to only be with her. I already have like five girls' numbers," Kennet said, pulling out pieces of paper before stuffing them back into his pocket.

"I used to hop from girl to girl, but I've seen what it can do to somebody, so I don't anymore. By bringing Kitten, I don't have to worry about that and I know that I'll be getting something more than a one-night-stand in the end," Richard said.

"Even if you hadn't brought her along, Kitten still would have given you something when you got back," Mario said, knowing that it was true because she had that _type_ of reputation.

"What's done is done, so let's just leave it at that," Richard said before taking another sip from his beer.

"I know, it's just too bad that that cutie over there keeps on looking at you," Kennet said, pointing at a girl who just so happened to be Barbara.

"She doesn't really look my type," Richard lied, knowing full well that pretty much _any girl _was his type.

"Sure," was all Kennet had to say before he picked up his drink once again.

--

"Shit," Xavier cursed upon seeing Richard when he returned to the table. It appeared that Richard had seen him too since he tensed up.

"Go find Kory, we need to get out of here," Xavier whispered to Barbara who looked at him oddly before leaving.

"What are you doing here Grayson?" he asked, walking over to the other table.

"Just out enjoying a drink with the guys," Richard said, gesturing towards Kennet and Mario. It was at that time that Kitten decided to show up again, a full drink in one hand and in the other hand an almost empty one.

"Looks like you've picked a real winner here Grayson. A classic slut I see," Xavier said after only looking over Kitten once.

"Who are you to call me a slut?" Kitten asked, setting down her drinks and crossing her arms over her paid for chest.

"Honey, I know you're type," Xavier said, before returning his attention Richard.

"Is Kory here?" Richard asked and it seemed that everyone fell silent because everyone knew about him and Kory.

"She's about to be leaving, so don't even think about trying to see her," Xavier said, glaring at him.

"Are you two still together?"

"Yeah, you still fucking random women?" Xavier spat.

"No, are you taking care of her?"

"Yeah, and much better than you ever were," he said, clenching his fists.

"How would you know?" Richard asked, now standing up. Kennet looked between the two with worried eyes while Kitten stared at both of them with hungry eyes.

"Either of you two interested in a threesome?" she asked and both of the boys glared at her before returning to glare at each other.

"I'll take that as a no," she mumbled before he eyes fell upon Mario and Kennet, but she quickly looked away.

"Just leave her alone Grayson. She's been fine without you," Xavier said.

"Xavier, who are you talking to?" Kory's voice came from behind them.

_"Of course," _Xavier thought before turning around.

"Just some drunk who was making a mess. Come on baby, lets go somewhere else," Xavier lied, wrapping an arm around her waist and trying to pull her away from the other table.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other Kory, unless of course you count on the street a couple days ago," Richard said and Kory froze.

"Leave her alone Grayson," Xavier snarled, turning around once again to face him.

"I think that Kory knows how to speak on her own, so why don't you let her?" Richard asked, stepping forward so that the table was no longer between them.

"Are you trying to start something Grayson?" Xavier asked, balling his hands up into fists.

"Lets just go Xavier, there's no reason to start something so early off in the year," Kory said, grabbing one of his arms.

"You're lucky that she's here to hold me back Grayson," Xavier spat, still glaring at him.

"And so are you," Richard said before he turned to leave.

"Fucking asshole," Xavier muttered under his breath before leaving with the girls and heading towards the car.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Oh wow, let me just beg now for forgiveness. I am **so sorry **for such a long wait! Time just flew out of my hands and I was super busy. Luckily though, school ended for me today, so now I have a free summer ahead of me which I can spend writing.

There should hopefully be an update for Walking With The Damned in the next week, but also a short little one shot that will be coming out on the 19th to celebrate my birthday.

Please review!

Kattie


	11. Surprise Visit

"That actually went a lot better than it could have gone," Rachel commented while they drove home.

"Yeah well Grayson was just lucky you wouldn't let me fight him," Xavier said, looking over at Kory briefly before returning his attention to the road.

"The last thing we needed was to get in a fight at the club. If it had been anywhere else besides one of my favorite clubs, I would have let you at him," Kory said, staring out the window.

"So that was Richard?" Barbara asked from the backseat.

"Yeah, that was him," Rachel told her.

"Let's just hope that we never see him again," Xavier said, pulling into the college's parking lot.

"Well he didn't seem that bad," Barbara said and everybody turned to stare at her.

"I hope you're not taking a liking for him," Rachel said.

"Yeah because I'd have to kill both of you if you tried to bring him around here," Xavier threatened.

"Just leave Barbara alone. It's her choice who she likes and who she doesn't," Kory said before getting out of the car. The others followed her example and when Xavier caught up with his girlfriend, he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I never said that I liked him, I'm just saying that he doesn't seem all that bad," Barbara tried to defend herself.

"Barbara, I already told you everything that he did. Just know that if you get hurt, I tried to warn you," Kory said. Barbara stopped walking and watched as the others kept going.

_"I don't like him, he just doesn't seem like that bad of a person," _she thought to herself, watching their retreating backs. Sighing, Barbara followed them, though not purposefully. Since she was sharing a dorm room with Kory, Barbara kinda had no choice but to go in the same direction.

When she got to her room, Barbara wasn't all that surprised to find that Kory wasn't there. Her guess was that she went back with Xavier to his room. With another sigh because she screwed up with her first friends, Barbara took a quick shower before going to bed.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"You're going to be late for your classes," Barbara said as she tried to shake Kory away. It seemed that she had forgotten to set an alarm so Barbara chose to wake her up instead of her being late.

"W-what?" Kory mumbled, slowly sitting up in her bed.

"You only have thirty minutes to get ready," Barbara said before continuing to brush her hair.

"Crap!" Kory yelled before running out of her bed and towards the bathroom. Surprisingly, she was actually ready twenty minutes later and that's with taking a shower.

"Come on Barbara! We're gonna be late!" Kory yelled before grabbing her bag in one hand and Barbara's hand in the other before running off to class.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"If you refuse to pay attention to my teachings Mr. Grayson then maybe it's best you just leave," a strict voice cut into Richard's thoughts. Richard quickly looked up at the teacher asking what the question had been.

"There was no question Mr. Grayson, I was simply telling the class to pull out a piece of paper for notes. Would you mind telling the class what was so important to think about that you couldn't pay attention?" the teacher asked, crossing his arms across his large stomach.

"I ran into my ex-girlfriend with her new asshole-of-a-boyfriend last night," Richard said, shocking the teacher that he had actually shared what he had been thinking about.

"Well I'd advice you to quit dwelling on some stupid girl and pay more attention to your classes. Your future is more important than what is going on between you ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend," the teacher said before returning to the front of the classroom.

"She isn't just some stupid girl," Richard said, glaring at the teacher.

"Did you say something Mr. Grayson?" the older man asked, turning around to face him. By now, the whole class was watching Richard to see what he would do next.

"Nothing," Richard muttered before pulling out a piece of paper.

"That's what I thought," the teacher said with a smirk on his wrinkly face. Richard glared harder at his over-weight teacher before standing.

"Just where do you think you're going Mr. Grayson?" the teacher asked as Richard grabbed his things and began to head towards the door.

"I have better things to do than just waste my time here," Richard said before leaving the classroom.

"Mr. Grayson, get back here!" the teacher yelled, but Richard ignored him and continued walking back towards his dorm.

_"Stupid teacher," _he thought while he dumped his things on his bed. Richard then grabbed his car keys and left the dorm building. A couple days ago, he had called the mansion and asked for his car to be brought to him so that he could drive around.

_"Screw what Bruce says, I'm getting the hell out of here and going to see her," _Richard thought as he got into his sports car and began driving towards his original college. When the hour long drive was over, Richard was finally at the college.

"Can I have the room number of Kory Anders?" he asked a woman who was sitting behind a desk.

"She's in class right now, but sure. You can find her in room 342 along with her roommate Barbara Gordon," the woman said before Richard left with a nod. The dorm building was empty and quiet until the sound of foot steps filled the halls as the students with the earlier classes returned to their dorms. Richard was caught up in a sea of students where he stood out because of his uniform: dark blue dress pants with a white t-shirt, dark blue tie, and dark blue button up jacket. Since he wasn't in school, Richard had his tie lose and his jacket unbuttoned.

"Richard?" a voice questioned as said man walked by, but he just ignored it.

"I thought he was arrested for punching Xavier off the roof last year." Whispers met Richard's ears as he walked past them and towards Kory's dorm room.

"He's headed towards Kory's room!" a girl told her friend as Richard neared the room marked 342. When he was about to knock on the door, it opened and Barbara stared up at him.

"Oh, it's you," she mumbled, recognizing him from the other night.

"How do you know me?" Richard asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Kory told me about you and I was there at the club with them last night," Barbara said quietly, nervous because of all the pairs of eyes that were watching them.

"You must be Barbara Gordon if you're sharing a room with Kory. The woman at the front desk told me so. Is uh, Kory in there?" Richard asked, trying to look past Barbara and into the dorm room.

"I heard that she was going to lunch," Barbara told him.

"Barbara, do you want to come to lunch with-" Kory froze when she finally realized just who it was that Barbara was talking with.

"Kory?" Richard asked, turning to face her. Most of the people in the halls turned to face them and some even stopped to watch what would happen.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Kory yelled.

"I ditched that stupid private school Bruce sent me to so that I could come talk to you," Richard said, turning away from Barbara and slowly walking towards Kory.

"What is there to talk about Richard? You used me so I got rid of you," Kory snapped bitterly.

"What I said came out wrong and I never met it that way. I'd explain that to you, but you _refuse _to talk to me," Richard said as he continued to slowly walk towards her.

"This is _not _the place to discuss our relationship Richard," Kory hissed, her voice not as loud now that Richard was standing right in front of her.

"So you're agreeing to talk about this with me?" Richard asked, his eyebrow raised. If she hated him or not, Kory still had to admit that when he raised his eyebrow with that cocky smirk, he looked incredibly sexy.

"You are so unbelievable! Why can't you just except that we're over?!" Kory yelled.

"Because you're all that I can think about every second of every day and it's driving me insane! Bruce thought that it would do me some good by moving me away from you, but it's only made things worse. I completely destroyed my room out of blind rage because I couldn't be with you. It took me forever to realize it, to the point where I had lost you, but I love you Kory. And it isn't just some stupid teenage love, even though what I'm saying must sound cheesy, but I'm in love with you," Richard said and Kory froze. All expressions of anger were wiped from her face and the only expression that remained was shock.

"Oh my God," a girl from the hall whispered to her friend.

"Say something Kory," Richard spoke softly to her.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Kory whispered before turning and running in the other direction. Richard just watched her leave before he sighed and left as well.

"Idiots!" a girl that had followed Kory and Richard's relationship the previous year yelled before stomping off to her room. Others watched her leave with raised eyebrows before they continued on with their days.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

**Wow, I'm actually updating this a lot quickly than I thought I would be! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. When I started writing this chapter, I was really stuck and not sure where I was gonna go with the chapter, but then this idea came to mind and I was like, "Yeah! Good-bye writer's block!". **

**So I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!**

**Kattie**


	12. Decision After A Year

"I'm an idiot, the biggest idiot ever," Richard muttered angrily to himself while he walked down the halls and back towards his car. As he walked, more people pointed and whispered obviously wondering why he just decided to appear now, if he was going to go to school there, and if not, why the hell was he there. There were also those who had heard Richard's confession to Kory who were quickly spreading the news. Just as he was about to enter his car, a voice stopped him.

"Did you really mean what you said to her?" Barbara asked, standing in front of Richard's car.

"What does it matter to you?" he asked, obviously not very pleased.

"Well Kory told me about your history together; pretty much saying that you were an asshole," Richard winced, ", but I still don't see what she thinks is so bad about you. You just ditched your school to drive over here and tell her that you love her only to have her run away because she's hung over Xavier," Barbara said, shrugging her shoulders.

"It doesn't matter if you do or don't understand, none of this concerns you," Richard said coldly, opening the door on the driver's side of the car.

"Maybe now I do understand why she thinks so lowly of you," she spat, glaring at the male.

"You don't know anything about what happened between Kory and I, so just shut your mouth," Richard snapped, his glare turning icy cold.

"I know enough to say that I believed that maybe there was some good in everything you did and that maybe I would consider helping you. Seeing though as you want me to keep to my own business, I'll just leave now," Barbara said, before turning.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'help me'? What could you possibly do that would help me win Kory back," Richard asked, causing the turned female to smirk. This had been her plan all along because any way Barbara could get closer to Richard, she'd take it.

"I could spy on Xavier and get some good dirt on him, dirt that will make Kory think of him as scum and leave him," she said, turning around so that they were facing again.

"What motive do you have to help me?" Richard asked, his eyebrow raised.

"I just have Kory's best interest in mind," Barbara said, smiling sweetly at him.

"I'm not buying that, but if you're willing to help, I'm willing to try," Richard said, but even saying that still didn't help the uneasy feeling he was getting around this woman.

"That's a spirit. Here's my number," Barbara said before she walked over to Richard and wrote her number on the inside of his arm with a sharpie. Richard then got into his car and drove away, still not sure exactly what he had gotten himself into.

**0000000000000000000**

When Richard got back to his school, it was nearing the last class of the day which he decided that he might as well go to.

"Where the hell did you run off to?" Kenneth asked when Richard walked into the classroom and took his normal seat next to him. "And whose number is that?" he ask, noticing the sharpie on his arm since the sleeve was still rolled up.

"One of Kory's friend's number. I think her name was Barbara," Richard shrugged as he pulled out a piece of paper.

"You went to see Kory?!" Kenneth practically yelled causing some people to look over at them.

"Yeah and I her that I loved her, I mean, **really **loved her," Richard said, staring down at the blank piece of paper on his desk.

"What'd she say?" the other man asked and that's when Richard's head dropped into his palm.

"Nothing really, she just ran off," he said, sighing out of aggravation.

"Richard Grayson, you need to go to the main desk," the professor said once all the others had settled and she spotted him. Sighing once again, Richard picked up his stuff before leaving the classroom and all of the whispering students within it. The halls were quiet like when he had first left to go visit Kory, but this time he was going to probably get a lecture.

"Ah, Mr. Grayson, please sit," the large man in charge of the private college said from behind a rather large and clustered desk. "You should know why you're here Mr. Grayson," he continued.

"Yeah, I ditched school. At least I came back instead of blowing off and going somewhere," Richard mumbled, but the man caught it.

"I'll let you know Mr. Grayson that this school does not run around you. The professors will not go over the lesson that you missed because you decided that school was boring and you had _better _things to do," the older man snapped.

"I know all the consequences _Sir_," Richard retorted.

"Do you really because something tells me you don't. I'll give you a warning this time, but consider it the last time you'll receive any mercy from me. Next time, I'll have to call your father down here to have a conference. You may return to your class now Mr. Grayson," the man said before Richard rose and left his office.

_"Go ahead and call Bruce down here, see if I care," _he thought as he headed back to his dorm room instead of the classroom. Normally Richard might have cared that he was on the bad side of someone that was in charge, but today he didn't much care about anything.

_"She'd rather spend time with her precious Xavier than the one guy that loves her like no other," _Richard thought bitterly as he threw his thinking onto the ground and flopped down on his bed.

**0000000000000000000**

"I don't know what to do Rachel. He said that he loved me, like he **really **loved me. It not just some teenage spring fling to him, but real love," Kory said, holding her head in her hands while she sat on her friend's bed. After turning and funning from Richard, she had gone straight to Rachel's dorm room.

"You love Xavier more though, right?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know Rachel. Richard has been the love of my life since high school then he dumped me, we got back together, I broke up with him, we had sex, got back together, he becomes an asshole so I dumped him again, I start going out with Xavier, and now he tells me that he loves me. Xavier and I have had sex, but that doesn't stop me from loving Richard," Kory said, tears of confusion and frustration threatening to spill over.

"You have to choose who you'd rather be with then Kory," Rachel said.

"Ugh! Why is that it's always Richard that makes me this frustrated?! I was fine without him and then he swoops in, says something romantic, and leaves me to make a horribly difficult decision!" Kory yelled, the tears silently sliding down her cheeks.

"Some people can paint, other can sing. Richard's secret talent is making things confusing, and difficult, and ruining peoples' lives and happiness," Rachel said with a shrug making her friend laugh.

"I'm not going back to Richard after he gives me some speech about his love for me. I need more from him to prove that he's worth my time and love more than Xavier. So until that day, I'm staying with Xavier. Thanks for the help Rachel," Kory declared before standing up and hugging her friend.

"I'm not exactly sure what I did to help, but okay," Rachel said with a small smile before Kory went running out of the dorm.

"Is she okay?" Rachel's room mate, Karen Beecher, asked as she walked into the room right after the red head had gone running out.

"She's just finally made up her mind after almost a year of struggling," Rachel said which caused Karen to look back at the door Kory had just left out of.

"Okay…," she said before heading to the bathroom. Rachel just picked up her book once again and began to read.

**0000000000000000000**

"Have you seen Xavier?" Kory asked one of the students who was in a class both she and Xavier had.

"Uh, check the roof?" the guy said, though it was more of an unsure suggestion. All the same, Kory thanks him before heading towards the stairs. When she reached the door that led to the roof, Kory threw it open and then went in search of her boyfriend. She found him talking with two others, but ignored them as she ran up to Xavier and kissed him. Just when Kory was about to pull away, Xavier leaned into the kiss more as his rested his hands on her hips. Kory brought one of her hands up to rest on the back of Xavier's neck, pulling him slightly closer to her so that she didn't have to go on her tipy-toes. The other hand stayed where it was on his chest.

"Don't mind us," one of surrounding guys said before he and the other guy left the couple alone. When Kory pulled away from Xavier she wrapped her arms around his chest in a hug.

"I love you," she whispered, breathing in his scent.

"I love you too Cutie, but is there something wrong? You kinda just came running up to me, and I thought something might be wrong," Xavier said, hugging his girlfriend back.

"Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to make sure you knew," Kory said, pulling away so he could see her smile up at him. _"I'll tell him about Richard's visit later, but not right now. I don't want right now to end," _she decided.

"You can be so odd Cutie," Xavier said before grabbing Kory's hand and bring it up to his lips, kissing it softly. "But that's why I love you," he told her and even though Xavier was no longer holding Kory's hand up to his lips, he didn't let go of it either.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

And the crowd goes "Aww!!". Its chapters like these that are really going to make a lot of you guys hate me later. The little fluffy moments between Kory and Xavier that you're later going to want to shoot me for betraying them.

Well anyway, please review!

Kattie


	13. Project Partners

As Rachel's alarm went off, she let out a groan of protest. She had never been much of a morning person, so waking up earlier was something she deeply despised. Karen, her happy, flirty, gossiping roommate had woken up almost a half an hour earlier and was probably just finishing up with her shower now.

"Come on Rae, it's time to get up," Karen said, walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her slim figure. Rachel slightly envied her room mate for having such a shapely figure. Even since the… well Rachel's figure just isn't as curvy as it used to be and she wanted to change that.

"I hate you, you know that right?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her violet eyes as she sat up in her bed.

"What? Why?" Karen asked, obviously not hearing the hint of sarcasm in her roommate's words.

"You're so skinny and I'm just some fat ass that got knocked up by her boyfriend who left her," Rachel said, the sorrow she felt sinking into the words even though she tried to hold it back. Karen didn't know the whole story about what had happened to Rachel last year since it was only her first year here, but she had heard some rumors and learned enough from that.

"Don't ever think of yourself that way Rachel. You're beautiful, but if you really think that way, I could take you to the gym with me to work out," Karen offered.

"How can I not think of myself that way? The only way I think of myself now is some would-be-mother that her boyfriend didn't love enough to stick around with after the miscarriage," Rachel said bitterly as she felt the heat in her eyes as tears threatened to begin forming.

"Maybe he wasn't really meant for you," Karen said, but knew that staying on the sad topic wouldn't make her usually grim roommate feel any better. "I really wouldn't mind if you joined me at the gym. I lost my gym partner when I switched schools, so I'd like it if I wasn't so alone when I go to work out. And I know a great work out that can get your body in great shape and attract some hotties," she added, smiling. Rachel looked up at Karen for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said, smiling as well, but her smile wasn't as wide. Karen's smile just seemed to get larger upon hearing Rachel's words.

"Great, now hurry up and get dressed so you won't be late for your classes," Karen said before Rachel rose from her bed and went into the bathroom. It was at least another hour before Rachel finally left her dorm room with Karen, ready for their morning classes. The two separated before heading in different directions towards different classrooms. Rachel sighed as she sat down at her normal seat in the middle of the biology classroom. Not many knew, but when Rachel finally got out of school, she wanted to be able to help the environment. All around her she saw the world crumbling and it truthfully made her sick to see everything falling the way it was. She wanted to be an environmentalist of some sort and also a scientist to help the world in general. The rest of the students soon filed into the classroom and took their seats as the professor began explaining what they would be doing that day.

"Today is a fairly simple day. You will be paired up and together must choose a topic to write a five page essay on. The topic must be related to yesterday's teachings on how you can conserve water, and the essay should explain the ways you can save water and how it will help in the future. From each pair I will be collecting only one paper, but the paper is due tomorrow in the beginning of class," the professor announced, his voice slightly hoarse from having just obviously woken up. It seemed that the students weren't the only ones having a hard time getting up in the morning.

The professor soon started pairing people up and Rachel was shocked when she heard a familiar name.

"Rachel Roth and Allen Wavery," the professor said.

_"That guy from my baby shower? When the hell did he transfer to this class?" _Rachel thought, too engrossed in her own thoughts to pay attention as the seat next to her became occupied.

"Uh… Rachel?" Allen asked, eyeing her oddly as she stared out into space.

"W-what?" she stuttered, turning to face him with a pink blush adoring her cheeks.

"You okay? You just kinda spaced out," Allen said, his tone slightly worried.

"Yeah… I'm fine. You… you were at my baby shower right? And you're the guy that helped Kory that night at the beach, right?" Rachel asked, hoping that she was right and didn't just make a complete fool of herself.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about what happened with the baby and Garfield," he said, looking down at the desk instead of at her. Rachel noticed that when he was looking at her, his eyes were a very dark brown, almost black. His skin was slightly tan, probably an effect from the bright sun of summer, and his straight black hair was long, ending a little after his shoulders, but didn't have a hippie look to it. Most guys with longer hair looked like they couldn't afford a decent hair cut, but Allen's hair was well kept but not in a gay way.

"Oh… it's fine. Let's just uh, work on the essay," Rachel said, trying to steer the conversation away from the subject that made her heart wrench in pain. Luckily, Allen did just that and they were soon discussing yesterday's teachings.

"Do you want me to come over to your dorm after our classes are over so we can work on it together?" Allen asked as the large hand got nearer to the time class would be over.

"Uh sure," Rachel agreed before pulling out a piece of paper and writing her dorm room number on it. She handed the paper over to Allen who smiled before tucking the paper into his rather large binder full of school work.

"Alright, I'll see you then," he said before there was a quiet ringing of a bell and students began to file out of the classroom. Rachel watched Allen walk away for a moment before she let out a rather large sigh.

_"I need to talk to Kory," _she thought before heading off to her next class.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Barbara sat in the back of the class so that she would have a full view of all the students. Never before would she have cared much that she shared her advanced math class with Xavier, but now that she needed blackmail on him, it became pretty much the only thing on her mind. Well, that, and the thought of how she would manage to seduce Richard into giving up on Kory and staying with her instead. Yes, that was Barbara's real motive of even helping him get dirt on Xavier and she just hoped it wouldn't back fire on her.

It wasn't at all that she didn't value Kory's friendship, because she did. Barbara just knew what she wanted (Kory's hottie ex-boyfriend) and she was going to go after it. This was college and the way Barbara saw it was that she had no time to waste on becoming friends with the all too bubbly Kory Anders. This was a time of war to get a good guy that you could spend the rest of your life with, and that's what Barbara planned to do… no matter what it took. Becoming friends with a sweet girl and then stabbing her in the back for her ex-boyfriend who was madly in love with her did in fact qualify under those standards. For Barbara, it was just a matter of how to do so, and in a subtle way too.

Sighing, Barbara returned her attention to Xavier who was sitting a row in front of her, but almost six or so seats to the left. He was sitting next to some guys Barbara had seen around the school before, and they screamed nothing but trouble. Pulling out her digital camera, Barbara quickly took a picture of the group when no one was looking before putting the camera back into her bag. Before the professor began to drone on about what they would be discussing that day, Barbara continued to study Xavier with his buddies and noted that most of them had tattoos and she guessed they would probably smell like smoke and liquor.

"Alright class, today you'll be paired up to start working on a project," the professor began talking. She explained the project to us before beginning to pair us up and with her luck; Barbara was paired up with her target.

_"Perfect," _she thought before moving from her seat so that she could sit next to Xavier.

"Hey Barbara, I didn't know you where in this class with me," he said, sounding rather bored. Said girl just smiled before they started working on the project. The whole time Barbara was next to him, she would glance over and see what he was doing. Her eyes landed on a pocket in his leather jacket where it looked like something was since the pocket was sticking out more than the other one.

"Do you wanna meet at your room later today to work on the project?" Xavier asked as they began to pack up their things.

"Well I don't want you to get distracted by Kory because this project means a lot to me," Barbara partially lied. The project was important to her (both the one she had to do for school, and the one she was doing for Richard), but the real reason she didn't want to do it in her dorm room was because she wanted to try and get some get dirt on Xavier which she couldn't do as well if they were in her room.

"True, I'd never get any work done if I was in the same room as her," Xavier said, his eyes holding compassion and love for his girlfriend.

"How about your dorm room then?" Barbara suggested and Xavier snapped out of his daze.

"My roommate can be a real asshole sometimes and I don't want you to have to deal with him," Xavier quickly said, too quickly if someone were to ask Barbara. It was the truth though, his roommate was an asshole, and the room was a mess too. Not only that, but some rumors would spread that he was sleeping with Barbara if she went into his dorm room and stayed in there for a long time.

"Then how about the roof top? I hear from Kory that you go up there a lot," Barbara suggested. Xavier paused for a moment before finally nodding.

"Sure, meeting me up there around five," he said.

"I'll see you then," Barbara said with a sweet smile before she turned and left him.

_"Perfect."_

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

I'm sorry the horribly long wait for an update, but things have been pretty crazy. School now starts in only **one** week and I have a lot of shopping to do, but I'll try to update quickly for all of my stories. I'm also sorry for leaving you guys with a bit of a cliff hanger, but by doing that, I have more to write about for the next chapter which means that I'll probably update sooner. You've got lose some to win some.

Anyway, before I tell you fabulous readers to please review, I want to tell you about my new story: _When The Dead Live_. Before anybody asks, **no** this is **not** a zombie story (I was talking to my brother about it and he asked if it was about zombies after I told him the title). There are no zombies in this story, but there is an odd romance. The story has kinda like a square romance in the beginning because of the OC (Sam), but she goes bye-bye and then it's only a triangle between Red X, Raven, and Starfire. The couple marked for the story is Red X and Raven because that is the main couple through out the whole story.

I feel really kinda sad because I haven't gotten a lot of reviews for the story yet and it's was 12 pages long in word (7,540 words long). I only say how long it was because I worked really hard on the first chapter and it's a totally new style of writing for me and I'd like to know if I should write more stories like this. Anyway, despite if you don't really like the pairing of Red X and Raven (I didn't either until I started writing this story when I got the idea), I still think you should check out the story.

It's written in Red X's point of view and it goes into his past which I had an **extremely** fun time writing. I still am in fact writing about his past because there are a lot of really long flashbacks that give you a feel for the main character and his love life with the dark Titan. There is also a challenge at the end of the chapter which is **very **easy and I'd have to say you get a pretty sick reward if you win the challenge.

Multiple people can win the challenge and if you do win the challenge you get the chance to get a preview of one of my **16** stories. That means that I'll give you a list of my stories (each with a short summary) so that no matter what way you look at it, you're getting more than just a preview of one story because you get a sneak peek of **all **my stories. The challenge is also very easy because all you have to do is tell me where Red X's name is from (for once, it's not Xavier or anything like that).

So go read my awesome new story, leave a review, and then win the challenge and get a preview of one of my stories! We all win if you do!

Please review!

Kattie


	14. Searching For Dirt

The whole walk to Kory's dorm had been an odd one for Rachel because, for once, she was nervous about talking to her sister-like friend. Never before had Rachel even blinked twice when it came to talking to Kory about something personal, but now, she could feel the nervous twitches in her stomach as she neared dorm 342. The nervousness was probably because, for once, the rolls had been switched around. Usually it was Kory who came to Rachel asking for advice or in need to talk about something important, but now it was Rachel who was seeking out Kory for help she thought she'd never need… boy help.

_"Stupid Allen. Stupid hormones." _Rachel then began to curse the rest of the world while calling it stupid. Today must have really not been her day since she had to not only write an essay, but also stare into the pretty eyes of Allen who could never do any wrong. It wasn't like she had a crush on him, no, Rachel was much above crushes, but Allen had caught her interest when boys should have been the _last _thing on her mind after everything that happened with Garfield. After the miscarriage, Rachel went pretty much numb to everything around her except for Kory and now this guy who had saved Kory's butt once and was at the baby shower, was catching her attention when nothing else could. This guy was the reason she was even knocking on Kory's dorm room now while she scowled at the metal numbers 3, 4, and 2 in the high middle of the door.

"Rachel? What's up?" Kory's voice caught Rachel's attention as she pushed past her bubbly friend and into the room. Luckily Barbara wasn't there which was good because Rachel would have just kicked the poor girl out of the room.

"Do you remember Allen?" Rachel asked rather suddenly after sitting down on the end of Kory's bed. Said girl took a seat on the bed as well while looking at her friend curiously.

"Yes, I remember Allen, but what does he have to do with anything?" Kory asked, her eye brow rose because of her friend's unusual actions today.

"Well he's in my biology class and we're project partners." Rachel was interrupted then, though it was a good thing because she really wasn't quiet sure where she was even going with this conversation. Before she had knocked, Rachel had had _at least _a sketched out plan of the talk, but now she was pretty confused which wasn't something she was often.

"Oh well that's good. From the couple of times that we've talked, Allen has told me that he's very passionate about that class and you should be getting a good grade with him as your partner," Kory explained with a smile, oblivious that her friend was struggling with this conversation.

"Well that's great because I can't concentrate with him next to me," Rachel blurted out before slamming her hand over her mouth in shock. Never before had Rachel suddenly said something without thinking first and now she had to pay for it.

Kory smirked slyly. "You like him… don't you Rachel." It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"I never said that! I just simply can't concentrate as well with him always smiling next to me and it's confusing," Rachel said matter-of-factly. Oh how things had turned around for her.

"Face it Rachel. The only reason you're distracted by him is because you like him." The smirk still hadn't left Kory's face as she talked. It was usually Rachel smirking while pointing out Kory's obvious feelings, but now the tables had turned and Kory planned to take control of this situation. She wanted to be able to help her friend the way Rachel had helped her so many times before.

"Is it right to be thinking about another guy after everything that happened with Gar? Am I moving too fast? Should I still be in pain after everything that happened?" Rachel asked, a sudden sorrow overflowing in her words. Kory's smirk fell as her eyebrows knitted together in slight confusion and concern for her friend.

"Is that really the way you've been feeling all this time Rachel? That you owe it to Gar after what happened over the summer to stay away from other guys?" Kory heard her voice rise slightly, but she couldn't hold back her anger very well. "You may not want to hear this Rachel, but he left you to do who knows what! You don't owe that asshole anything after everything he did!" Rachel looked up at Kory in slight shock while wetness framed her eyes.

"What do you think I should do Kory? You've always known what's best for me because you know me almost better than I know myself." The words spoken by the dark girl were soft and almost pleading.

"I think you should give Allen a try and maybe start up a relationship. Gar is only part of your past now and you can't let the past weigh you down," Kory said with a smile before Rachel nodded and stood from the bed.

"I have to go now because I'm meeting him at my dorm to work on the project." Her voice was much calmer than before as she wiped away what small amount of tears had formed. "Thank you Kory," Rachel then said before hugging said friend and leaving.

"You're welcome Rachel," Kory whispered with a smile before continuing her school work.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Barbara hummed to herself as she made her way up the stairs towards the roof. Luckily nobody else was really around at the moment so there were fewer problems though nobody could really ask why someone was heading towards the roof since anyone could go there. Just as she had originally planned, it was four o'clock and an hour before Barbara was supposed to meet Xavier.

_"This hour should be just enough time for me to get some dirt on him," _she decided with a smirk while pulling out her camera. Taking a deep breath, Barbara slowly opened the door before looking around. Luck seemed to be on her side since there was nobody to see her open the door. Slipping out of the hallway and onto the roof, Barbara slowly made her way around the small building in the middle of the clearing to find Xavier talking with three guys.

The smirk that was already on Barbara's face only grew as she pulled out the camera. _"Perfect." _Focusing the camera, she took a picture as Xavier reached into his jacket pocket. Another picture was taken when a bag filled with something white was handed to one of the three guys.

_"You are so busted," _Barbara thought while taking another picture as another one of the guys handed Xavier a roll of bills. The three men then turned away as Xavier counted the money which Barbara took a picture of before leaving the roof without anyone noticing.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Richard was pacing the floor of his dorm while in deep thought.

_"How long is it going to take Barbara to get dirt on Xavier?" _he wondered, knowing that he would go insane if it was too long of a wait. All Richard wanted was for Kory to realize that Xavier wasn't the right guy for her and that she deserved better. Sure Richard knew that he had screwed up big time in the past with Kory, but his standards of Xavier were much lower.

The way Richard saw it, Xavier was just some bum. He didn't do any good for anyone aside from the people Richard guessed he sold drugs to. Xavier, in Richard's eyes, wasn't deserving of Kory and her love and, as a good friend, Richard had to make sure that Kory saw that.

_"I could treat her so much better than that bastard ever could," _Richard thought while running his hand through his messy hair. Yup, he was certain now, that if Barbara didn't give him some news soon, he would go insane. Feeling a small and short vibration in his pocket, Richard pulled out his cell phone to find a text message from Barbara.

The message read._ 'Where should we meet? I have something you might like to see'_. Richard smirked before quickly replying giving a place and saying that he would be right there.

Seemed his plan was going to be put into play a lot sooner than he thought.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

So I know it wasn't a super long chapter (not even really that close to long), but hey! I updated! That should be like huge news! I've already started working on the next chapter for _Walking With The Damned_, _When The Dead Live_, and _Curse of the Ninjatube_. The update that will most likely come out next is _Walking With the Damned_ because I'm furthest along in that. _Painted Woman _will probably be one of the last stories to get an update simply because I haven't really started working on the next chapter yet.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter no matter how short it is and in the next chapter there should be some more on Kory and Xavier.

Also! In the next few chapters or so, I may do a little portion with **Garfield**. If I don't do it in the next couple of chapters, then you may not find out what's been going on with him until the next story.

Yes, Garfield will be back in the next story. That's my little spoiler for anyone who wanted him to come back really badly. Garfield will be back along with another familiar (but unwanted) face and they both only bring problems (though Garfield not so much, just some oh so loveable drama).

Please review!

Kattie


	15. I'm Leaving

As Garfield pulled his jacket tightly around himself once more, he realized that it may have been a bad idea to move from sunny Jump City all the way to New York. All the same, he was there and there was no going back now.

_"Especially after all the shit I pulled before leaving. They'd all probably kill me if they say me again,"_ he thought grimly while once again feeling the guilt and regret wash over him like a title wave. It wasn't like he didn't know that Rachel hadn't done anything to him, it was just too much for him to handle. Gar would've been a junior in college with a wife and baby girl which wasn't something he was ready to deal with.

_"It was either this or Vegas," _Gar reminded himself before rubbing his hands together once more in an attempt to obtain some feeling in them. When he had been packing his things to move out, Garfield had decided on either going to Vegas or New York.

Vegas was one of his options because it would be easy to get a job at a bar, or something along those lines, until he had saved up enough money to go to a college in Reno. New York had been the other option because there too it would be easy to get a job at a bar, or something along those lines, and it had a good college for his career choice. After consulting his parents about him moving away, something they hadn't been happy about, they told him to go to New York because it had better opportunity and his aunt and uncle still lived there and could give him a place to stay until he was on his own two feet again.

_"The look on their face's when I told them I was leaving," _Garfield thought as the guilt washed over him once again.

_The door was slammed open and both his mother and father jumped from their spots on the couch as Garfield came marching into the room._

_"Why aren't you at the hospital with Rachel?" his mother was the first to speak after looking at the clock and wondering why her son wasn't spending every waking hour with said girl._

_"I don't wanna talk about it," Garfield muttered before heading for his room. His parents looked at each other before quickly following in tow._

_"What happened honey?" his mom asked, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion and concern. _

_"I'm leaving," Gar suddenly announced leaving both his mother and father stunned and still._

_"What are you talking about? You can't just leave! Rachel is in the hospital and needs you now more than ever!" his father yelled. It was weird for Garfield to see his father anything but calm, but at the moment he didn't have the time to look in awe upon this new man in front of him._

_"I wasn't ready for any of this dad! Especially not her asshole father blaming all the shit that happened on me! He thinks it's my fault that Rachel is a wreck, that the baby is gone, and anything else that may be bad in the world right now and you know what? I'm starting to agree with him. I'm the reason Rachel's life is a pile of shit and she'd probably be better off if she had never met me. Me leaving will just do her one big favor and then she'll never have to deal with me again. I'll just be gone from her life and that'll be the end of it," Garfield told them and once again, his parents fell silent. _

_"Honey, none of this was your fault. The baby just wasn't meant to be. God has a reason for all of his doings," his mother said calmly while tears were forming in her eyes. As much as it hurt Gar to see his mom hurt, he couldn't help but scoff at her words._

_"If God has a reason then he was obviously taking a piss and not paying attention to what he was doing when we got into that crash." The words that left his mouth were bitter and came out in a tone none of them had ever heard him use before._

_"Garfield! Do not speak like that about the Lord," his mother scolded him, but he just ignored her._

_"I'll talk about the useless dead guy however I want because he's never done any good for me! Where was God when I was twelve and got hit by that car which caused me to break my leg and not be able to play baseball that whole season? Where was God when both my dog and cat were hit by a bus and we couldn't afford to get another one so I was left all alone? Where was God when Rachel's father was beating her and she needed help? Where was God when I was trying to get Rachel to the hospital?_

_"I've lost everything when that asshole was too busy worrying about his toast so I don't give a shit about him! He's never cared about what's happened to me so why should I care about showing him respect?" Gar snapped at his parents which caused his mother to gasp while his father's eyes turned darker and his spine stiffened. _

_"That is enough! You will not speak like that any longer! Now get a hold on yourself and calm down before so help me I'll make you," Garfield's father ordered._

_"What are you gonna do Dad? You've never gotten into a fight, you've never punched someone, and you don't even know how to defend yourself. But you sure know how to keep yourself safe and happy while completely ignoring your only son because you really don't want h-," a sharp slap was heard throughout the room as Gar's eyes widened in shock. His mother just stood there, trembling, with her arm still reached out slightly in front of her._

_"I'm leaving and you two can't stop me," Garfield announced before turning from them and heading towards his room to pack. When he was done, Gar had packed two suitcases and a backpack full of his clothes and some belongings along with any money he could find. _

_"Where will you be going?" his mother asked once Garfield walked back into the living room with his things slung over his shoulders._

_"Either Vegas or New York, I'm not sure yet." What he had said was the truth too because Garfield didn't know where he was going yet. All he knew was that he had to get out of there. _

_"Go to New York and we'll call your aunt and uncle so they'll know that you're coming," his mom said with her gaze on the ground instead of the bruise forming on her son's face. _

_"Alright," Garfield's words were soft as an awkward silence fell over the three of them. _

_"Here, this will get you to New York," his mother said, handing him some hundred dollar bills while Gar's father just continued to glare at him. Gar took the money and put it in his pocket before wrapping his mother in a tight hug. For all he knew, this would be the last time he would be seeing her for a while. When he pulled away, his mother was in tears and shaking violently, but Garfield knew that there was nothing he could do to try and stop those tears because he was the cause. _

_As his mother stood there crying, the two men stood staring at each other; neither speaking because neither knew what to say. The way the father saw it was that Garfield was about to leave and abandon everyone he cared about. The way Garfield saw it was that he was doing everyone a favor by leaving because he couldn't do any good. _

_"Good bye George," Garfield finally spoke, sticking out his hand. His father just stood there in shock that his son had just called him by his name and was offering a hand shake instead of a hug. When his dad didn't take his hand, Gar let it fall to his side and turned his attention back to his sobbing mother._

_"I'll call you before Christmas and maybe I'll be able to stop by," he said before picking up his things again and leaving the house. His mother went to the window and watched as the taxi they had called for their son stopped in front of the house. Garfield stood out on the side walk for a moment and his mother hoped that he may turn around and come back, but he pulled open the back seat, threw his things in and then followed suit. The taxi then pulled away taking with it their only son. _

Gar tried to stop the tears that formed in his eyes as he thought of that day, but there was no stopping them. It'd been almost two months since he'd last seen his parents and things hadn't gotten any easier for him since then. Sure his aunt and uncle were caring and provided food and shelter for him, but they weren't the same loving parents Gar had left back in Jump City. As the tears began to silently fall, Gar lowered his head which made him unable to see in front of him until it was too late and he had bumped into someone.

"Sorry," Gar muttered, looking up to see a girl with long blonde hair looking down at her fallen coffee while cursing under her breath.

"Let me buy you a new one," he offered and she finally looked up at him. For a moment, Gar was lost in her bright blue eyes while he stared at her with his own forest green ones.

"You don't really have to do that. I should have been watching where I was going," the girl said, gesturing to the cell phone she held in her hand.

"I don't mind, it was mostly my fault anyway," Gar assured her, hoping that she couldn't tell he had been crying.

"Well alright then." She sounded a little unsure about it, but accepted Gar's hand all the same when he stuck it out and introduced himself as Garfield Logan.

"Hi, I'm Terra Rockson."

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

So I know Terra's last name is really random, but I was in a hurry to post this chapter. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and was happy to have a little Gar back in their life.

Please review!

Kattie


	16. Where's The Money

Barbara was pacing as she waited for Richard to show up at the Mc Donald's she was currently waiting at. They had agreed to meet here so that she could show him the pictures and so they could make a plan about what to do next. She heard the door chime as it opened and Barbara's eyes lit up when she saw Richard walk in through the door, still dressed in his school uniform.

"Well, what'd you find?" he asked, getting right to business after they had sat down

"Xavier is dealing something and it's certainly not the answers to last night's homework," Barbara said in a riddle while she pulled out her camera for Richard to see the pictures.

"Damn Barbara, this is good. How'd you get them?" he asked while scanning through the pictures.

"Just sneaking around and playing my cards right. It's really not that hard," she said with a shrug through her lips held a satisfied smirk.

"Can you get these printed so I can have a copy?" It was obvious that Richard didn't trust Barbara all that much so it'd do him good if he had some of the evidence instead of just totally relying on her. Aside from that, Richard also didn't want her to be in total control because it was a rather large blow to his ego.

"Of course, but right now I have to leave. I promised Xavier I'd meet him to work on our group project," Barbara told him, taking back her camera and packing it into her bag.

"You're his project partner? Well this is just perfect," Richard pointed out what she had already noticed.

"I know," Barbara agreed before leaving the Mc Donald's and heading back to her car.

_"Just a little more of this spy work and then hopefully Richard will have warmed up to me so that he'll forget all about Kory and instead go for me," _she thought, eyes narrowed slightly, before starting up her car and heading back towards the dorm buildings.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"Yeah man, I'll have the goods by Friday," Xavier assured his roommate while putting the money he had received into his wallet.

"You better X, 'cause if you don't I can guarantee that you'll be hearing from Slade," Johnny threatened while shooting his roommate a look from where he sat on his bed.

Flinching, Xavier turned his attention back to Johnny. "There's really no reason to get Slade involved in all this just yet. It's not my fault either 'cause I have to wait to get it from the street dealers before I can deal the drugs to you," he tried to explain, the feeling of slight panic begin to boil in the pit of his stomach. Slade was definitely not someone to mess with since he had power, connections, money, and muscle. Lots and lots of muscle. Anyone who was anyone looking for a good time without having to worry about some STD knew about Slade since he was practically like the Drug Lord of their time. It didn't help Xavier at all since he and Slade had a little rift going on between them and had never been that close and always seemed to be arguing or disagreeing about something.

"Slade doesn't care what excuse you use. He'll still pin the blame on you and then things won't be pretty for you or your precious little girlfriend," Johnny sneered and like a switch was flipped, Xavier went from slightly worried to pissed within a matter of seconds as he charged at Johnny and had him pinned against the wall.

"Leave Kory the fuck out of this," he ordered, staring down his roommate who was now slightly cowering away from him. People knew not to get on the bad side of Xavier because he too had connections along with muscle and people respected him because he wasn't complete scum unlike the other druggies he tended to make business with.

"Then get Slade the drugs and you won't have to worry about the whore," Johnny spat before shoving Xavier off him and leaving their dorm room probably in search of a bar. Xavier stood still for a minute or two, his breathing hard while he glared at the place where Johnny had been moments before. After a couple more minutes Xavier was able to unclench his hands from the fists they were balled into and he began to calm down slightly.

_"I need to get things sorted out with the street dealers," _he thought before heading towards the door but then quickly remembering he promised to meet Barbara.

"Fucking school," Xavier muttered before leaving his dorm and slamming the door behind him. From there he headed up to the roof where he had promised to meet Barbara.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Richard paced around his room uneasily; thinking over what Barbara had showed him.

_"Is Xavier really dealing drugs?" _he thought, knowing that the answer was probably yes since he himself had seen the evidence.

_"Is it right to be doing this?" _Richard knew that the answer was no, but now that he knew something was up with Xavier he couldn't just sit back and watch Kory fall in love with someone who wasn't good for her.

_Like you're any better._ His conscious reminded him cruelly and Richard felt like banging his head against the wall. He knew he had messed up big time when it came down to how he handled things with Kory. Hell, their whole dorm building had known! But at least he wasn't dealing drugs. Really if Xavier was just drinking a little too much Richard wouldn't care nearly as much as he did now.

_"Is that true? Would I care less if the problem wasn't as serious?"_ No, Richard knew he would still care just as much. This is Kory he was thinking about and he knew that he would do _anything_ to keep her safe and smiling; even if it meant breaking up her and Xavier.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"Wintergreen, has Xavier brought over my money yet?" a deep voice asked from the shadows, obvious irritation in his tone. An elderly man stepped forward, dressed in a white button up shirt and black dress pants and shoes.

"No Sir, he has not," he said, words clearly spoken with a slight British accent. The man in the shadows growled before standing, the sound of his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the large, empty room.

"Then I guess it's time I go pay him a visit," Slade said with a smirk before he left the room, Wintergreen following close behind.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Ah! So I know this was a short update, but now you get to find out about what's going on with Xavier and I've introduced Slade into the story!

Hopefully my next update will be sooner so that you guys don't have to wait as long as I made you wait for this one.

Please review! Oh and vote who you want Kory to end up with on my poll please!

Kattie


	17. And The Truth Is Out

Barbara looked around nervously as she slipped the key into the lock before opening the door. Had it been her dorm door she was opening or anyone else's she wouldn't have been so skittish, but since this was Xavier's door she had to be extra careful. She already had a cover up in case anyone caught her which is that she needed to get some stuff she left in the room for the project and got the key from Xavier's roommate, but Barbara didn't want to even have to worry about using the excuse. All she wanted was to get in, plant the bug, and then get out so that she could be done with this sneaking around.

_"Just remember, it's all for Richard," _she reminded herself before a smile spread across her lips as she thought of said man. Really there was nothing about him that she didn't find attractive and she wanted all of him with absolutely no mention of that wretched Kory. Changing thoughts a snarl escaped Barbara's lips as she frowned while glaring at the wall before her; thinking of Kory.

_"That bitch has hurt Richard enough and it's time he got a proper girl." _Pushing those angry thoughts out of her head, Barbara went back to looking around the room for a good place to hide the bug. Now of course she's not really hiding a bug but really a small microphone that would connect to her laptop so that she could hear what was going on in Xavier's room any time she pleased. It hadn't been easy getting the microphone that much is for sure, since she had to pay almost 200 dollars for it due to the fact that she got it at a small store somewhere on the other side of town. There was no way in hell Barbara wanted anyone to think that she was the one to plant the bug there or to have any connections to it so she had to be extra careful with what she did when it came to her spying on Xavier.

_"Certainly not under the bed or anywhere near the bed since that might be too obvious," _Barbara thought while studying the rather messy dorm room and looking for a good place she could hide the microphone. She finally grew frustrated and just settled on a place that was relatively good, a top a rather high shelf and partially hidden underneath some random pieces of junk that looked as if they had been collecting dust for years despite the fact that school had only been going on for a month or so.

"Thank God that's finally over," Barbara whispered with a sigh before heading towards the door only to hear movement outside of it followed by the jingling of keys. She swore under her breath before darting into the bathroom and hiding in the shower. There were footsteps followed by the sound of three different voices, one of them belonging to Xavier's which made Barbara smirk.

_"He said he was going to be with Kory which means that he's lying to cover for something else," _she thought before listening intently as she heard the sound of more jingling keys and then something metal being opened.

"You got the money right because I'm really overdue on my pay and Slade's not very happy with me right now," Xavier said and Barbara made a mental note to try and figure out who Slade is.

"Don't worry Xavier, he always follow up with our end of the deal. Now you've got the drugs right?" a new voice asked and the smirk on Barbara's face only grew more. He really was making this all too easy for her since she had already hooked up the bug and all of this was being recorded and saved onto her computer.

"Of course." There was some more talking that wasn't nearly as important or exciting before someone brought up Kory.

"So I heard you're still with that Anders chick. That's a fine piece of ass you've got there," one of the guys said and there was a low whistle of approval from the other man.

"She's more than just a piece of ass, I love her," Xavier said, in a way defending his girlfriend as all guys should when it comes to someone talking about a girl like that.

"Sure, of course." "Whatever you say Xavier." The guys didn't seem very convinced but that didn't matter much to Barbara since she was more so just focused on the drugs Xavier was dealing. They soon left and then it was just her and Xavier though of course Xavier didn't know of her hiding in his shower.

"Hey Babe I'll be right over," Xavier said, obviously talking into his cell phone. Barbara could hear some shuffling around and some muffled sounds of Kory talking on the other line before Xavier spoke again.

"Yeah, I cleared things up with the professor and I convinced him to give me another day." More silence and Kory talking. "Sure thing and how about I take you out to dinner. It's been awhile since we last had some romantic alone time," Xavier suggested before he laughed at something Kory said.

"Well if you don't count that. I'll see you in a few." With that said, he hung up before leaving the dorm room. Barbara stood in the shower for another five or so minutes before she got out and left the dorm room, locking the door behind her.

_"Perfect."_

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"So do you understand why I added in this part now?" Allen asked, looking over at Rachel who sat next to him looking at the paper in his hand. She was quiet for a while before finally nodding, throwing in a small smile as she agreed to his idea for their project together.

"Yeah and it's good, but I think now we maybe have to mention that point once more later on in the paper just to make sure it doesn't seem like we forgot about it. Do you want to work on that now?" she asked while sitting back in her chair and looking over at Allen casually. Ever since her talk with Kory, Rachel had been studying the way Allen acted around her as well as her reactions to things he did and she was come to the conclusion that, despite how much she wanted to deny it, she had a crush on Allen. Now it's not like it was a huge crush or anything like that, just a small crush where she found herself sometimes looking at him a lot and blushing when he was close. Though there were also the times when she found herself staring at his lips and wondering if they were as soft as they looked.

"Sure. Do you want to work here or would you rather go down to the coffee shop just at the corner?" Allen offered and Rachel found herself blushing while stupidly wondering if he had technically just asked her out on a date.

_"How can it be a date if we're going out to work on a project?" _her thoughts contradicted and she felt slightly sad about this realization but agreed with Allen to go to the coffee shop anyway.

"It'll be nice to get away from school anyway. Seeing the same things every day is starting to get tiring," Rachel threw in before gathering up her things and following Allen out of his dorm room. Even if it wasn't really a date Rachel still couldn't help the butterflies that were fluttering around in her stomach as she walked next to Allen and talked about anything that came to mind. Being with him just felt so natural and not as trying as it had with Gar since she didn't have to try as much to not hurt his feelings. Allen understood Rachel's warped humor while Gar had usually ended up getting hurt by her sarcasm or even when she didn't give as animated of a response to a joke as Gar would've liked.

"Jesus, I'm comparing them," Rachel muttered under her breath as she stared out in front of her in disbelief.

"What was that?" Allen asked, looking over at her since he had heard her mumbled voice.

"Uh nothing," Rachel quickly lied before changing subjects even though her mind was still racing around with all the differences between Allen and Garfield she could come up with.

_"Is it too early to be thinking of other guys this way? Is it too early to be moving on after how much Gar and I had?" _Rachel wondered, feeling slightly guilty for all the dirty thoughts she had already had about Allen.

"Are you sure you're okay Rae? You seem a little out of it," Allen pointed out and at the use of the nickname Rachel froze in her steps. They were currently in the middle of the sidewalk, a nice breeze blowing past them as well as a few other people walking. She was contemplating whether she should tell him the truth or not when she finally remembered just how much of her situation Allen knew about. Not only did his knowledge of a lot of what had happened, but also the fact that Allen seemed like a really trusting guy led Rachel to tell him what was really on her mind.

"I haven't talked to him in almost two months and it's tearing me up inside because I don't even know if he's still alive," she practically whispered while looking down at her feet as a wave of loneliness came crashing down on her. Never before had Rachel really realized just how lonely she was or how hurt she felt by all of this until she finally admitted to Allen that she didn't even know if Gar was still alive or not.

"I'm assuming this is about Garfield," Allen started which earned him a nod from Rachel. "Well he made a choice, no matter of how stupid it may have been, and there's nothing you can really do about it. Sure you can go try and hunt him down and try to fix things but it'll never be the same after everything that happened between you two."

"How is this supposed to help me? It's only making me feel shittier," Rachel said, the sorrow and pain laced heavily into her words as she looked up at Allen with watering eyes.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that you need to stop beating yourself up about all of this. It's easy to see that you're in pain and that you feel betrayed and lonely, but there is also the look of you blaming yourself for this mess which isn't fair to do to yourself. You're not the only one at fault and if anything all of this is his fault since he made the choice to walk out on you. Don't beat yourself up about this Rae because you deserve so much better than to be left feeling lost by a guy who can't stand by you even in the toughest of times," Allen said and now Rachel felt the tears pouring out from her eyes as her voice shook and her lips trembled when she spoke.

"I can't help these feelings because I loved him Allen, I loved him so much and he just left me like I wasn't even important. It makes me feel like everything we had for the past four years was just one big joke to him and when it's all over he's the only one left laughing while I'm just left in tears. It isn't fair that he left me Allen and I miss him so much," she admitted before being pulled forward into Allen's chest where she finally cried. He rubbed her back soothingly while she sobbed into his chest.

"I'm sorry for crying on you," Rachel said weakly after pulling away a few minutes later.

"Its fine Rae, you looked like you needed a good cry anyway. If you ever need someone to talk to feel free to come to me, I'll totally listen to anything you have to say," Allen offered, giving her small smile as he spoke. Rachel smiled in return before going up on her tipy-toes to give Allen a kiss on a cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder when she hugged. When she pulled away both of them were blushing and they continued walking towards the coffee shop in a comfortable silence.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

So I know it's not extremely long, but it's longer than the last one and it had some more stuff in it. I know it wasn't all that exciting either, but things are starting to unravel and eventually a big something will happen and yeah all that good stuff. Good news is that I updated faster and actually wrote all of this in one day! Now I have to go finish up _Walking As The Damn_'s next update on Wednesday and also an update for _Painted Woman._ Oh and don't worry, I'm also working on _Just My Way Of Repaying You_ and _When The Dead Live_. Things in school have just been a little crazy with break coming up and I've also been really wrapped up in my story, _Cure Me Doc_.

Thanks for all the reviews and please review again!

Kattie


	18. Release

Richard sat in his classroom staring out the window while not even bothering to pretend to be listening to his teacher. Honestly he thought the whole class was a waste of time since it specified on the past and Richard knew that his work career at Wayne Industries would never need any knowledge on the B.C. ages. With a sigh, he yawned before cracking his back and returning his attention to the front of the class only to hear the bell ring signaling the horrid period was over.

_"Bought fucking time," _Richard thought before grabbing his things and leaving the classroom well before some of the other students had even gotten up.

"Oh Richie-poo!" Kitten squealed, running up to him with her pink heels making loud clicking noises on the hard floors. While trying to keep his own head ache to a minimum, Richard looked around and noticed other people shooting both him and Kitten dirty looks probably for such loud noise on a Friday morning.

"So how was class?" Kitten asked, taking Richard's hand in hers as they began to walk to their next class.

"Boring as hell," he muttered which made the girl in **way too much **pink giggle.

"You know you can always transfer out of that class," Kitten reminded him as she had many times before. It was only this time though that her saying that gave Richard an idea.

"Kitten for once in your life you've done something good. I gotta run babe but I'll call you before lunch so we can meet up." And with that said Richard gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before running towards the main office with a truly happy smile on his face; something no one at that school had ever seen before.

_"Fuck staying here, I'm over 18 and I don't have to listen to Bruce." _

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Barbara sat in front of her lap top, staring out the window while letting out a long sigh of boredom.

_"Could Xavier's life be any more boring? Jesus all he's doing is sleeping!" _she thought before shooting over a glare at her computer as if it were the reason Xavier was boring to spy on. Looking over at her clock, Barbara sighed once more before closing her laptop and getting her things together. At least she knew that by the time she got back from class Xavier would be up and doing something since she had her next class with him. Today was the final day they'd be able to work together in class and on their own time on the project before briefly presenting it tomorrow and letting the professor go over it during the weekend. That meant that today was the last day she could really grill Xavier on things in person and maybe find out some more juicy information.

The halls were still fairly silent since everyone was making their way to class or was either asleep since 9 o'clock classes were suddenly considered too early to be waking up. Barbara's heels clicked against the aluminum ground with each step she took, not even bothering to look at the people walking past her for in her opinion she found herself too worthy to be looking at them. This was the way Barbara thought of everything though since in her high school she had been the top dog and always ordered people around; knowing that she was above them and that they were far below. It had been that way during her freshman year of college too since most of her graduation high school class was at the same school she was, but now she was out here as a lone wolf with the same attitude; not yet knowing how to play well with the other kids in the playground called 'life'.

Some people walking by snickered at her stuck up expression and knew that she would soon have it coming for her.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"Xavier, it's time to wake up," Kory said sweetly as she gently brushed his hair out of his face with her fingers. One of her favorite things to do was wake him up even though at times it could be a hassle. When he first awoke was one of the few times Xavier didn't appear to be guarded and Kory loved seeing him look so innocent sleeping.

"No, it's too early," he grumbled into his pillow, pulling the sheets over his head to block out the small amount of light there had been in his room already. Kory giggled before pulling the sheets off of him and shaking him.

"Come on Xavier, you need to get up for class," she said, trying to sound stern even though she knew it was a poor attempt since she couldn't keep the smile from her voice.

"Fuck class. Sleep," Xavier mumbled before wrapping a strong arm around his girlfriend and pulling her down onto his chest. Then, to keep her from trying to get away, he rolled them over so that she was trapped under him.

"Xavier!" Kory cried, laughing still as said man grabbed the sheets and threw them back over themselves. He then lowered his head down so that it was nestled against her neck and took in her scent, a smile spreading across his face as he wrapped his arms around her waist in a protective hold. Giving up, Kory simply smiled as she began to pet Xavier's hair, running her fingers through it and scratching at his scalp which she knew he loved. After a few minutes, her fingers drifted down and just barely brushed over the skin behind Xavier's ear which made him laugh and then squirm away from her touch.

"Ticklish?" Kory questioned, moving her arm so she could brush the sensitive flesh again, but Xavier quickly held her arm down; lifting his head so that he could look down at her.

"We tell no one of this," he ordered, cheeks just barely tinted pink with an embarrassed blush that made Kory laugh.

"And what happens if I do?" she asked, playing the waters with her eye brow raised and a smile still on her lips.

"Well I'll just have to kill you," Xavier joked before leaning down and kissing his girlfriend softly. Kory was quick to reply and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as their make out session became more intense. She could feel Xavier's hand began to tease the skin of her stomach from underneath her shirt and didn't complain as his hand traveled further. Her shirt was soon gone and Xavier's hands were roaming Kory's soft skin, leaving trailing flames wherever he touched.

"Xavier," she moaned softly when he hooked his fingers under her waist band of her pants and began to suck on her neck. Just then the sheets were pulled back and laughter filled the room as Kory let out a quick scream and tried to cover up her nearly exposed breast.

"Damn Red, at least do it when other people _aren't _around," his room mate joked while Kory quickly threw on her shirt and Xavier just glared up at him.

"Really? You just couldn't come back later," he questioned before sighing and getting up as well. "Sorry bout that babe, I'll make it up to you; promise. Now get to class before you're late," Xavier then told Kory and she only nodded. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her things and leaving the room; dark pink tinting her cheeks.

"Damn she is one fine piece of ass. How long have you been banging that?" Johnny asked, giving a low whistle. Xavier turned to his roommate with a glare and threw his pillow at him.

"Fucking asshole," he muttered, a grim look on his face as he picked out some clothes to wear for the day.

"Man, Xavier, when was the last time you smoked some? You've been pretty pissy lately. It's not like you. Come on man, skip today with me and come get high with me and the boys. You need to let off some steam anyway," Johnny pointed out and Xavier let out a tired sigh, running a hand threw some hair.

"I've been trying to get clean for Kory because she deserves better than some useless bum boyfriend and I want to be better for her," he admitted quietly, sitting back down on his bed and looking at the shirt in his hand. Johnny sighed as well before coming and sitting next to Xavier.

"She does deserve better man, anyone can see that which is why you should get whatever you can from her before she sees it too and leaves you. Face it Xavier, you've been doing this since high school; you're not just going to suddenly change because of some pretty face and nice pussy," he said and Xavier growled before grabbing hold of his roommate's throat and pushing him down onto the bed; slowly squeezing the life out of him.

"Don't talk about Kory that way," he spat out between clenched teeth before Johnny punched him off him and stood up.

"See Xavier! You're acting fucking crazy! Forget the girl! She'll never give you more than a good fuck!" Johnny yelled, glaring down at Xavier from where he sat on the ground, holding his pounding head. A bag was tossed to in front of him and Xavier looked down to see Johnny looking down at him.

"Take this before you get cleaned up in the shower. We'll be at the usual meeting place four a couple of hours if you decide to come or not. Just get what you need from the girl while you can man, she's not worth changing your whole life for. She's just a piece of ass," he said before grabbing his coat and leaving the dorm room; their door slamming behind him. Xavier looked down at the drugs in the bag and with a sigh grabbed them and headed for the bathroom; ready for a release from his life.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Ahh! You can all kill me now! I've just had such horrible writer's block for this story and I still do, but I managed to cough up this. I'm actually pretty happy with the end because it gave you readers something to think about. Um the next chapter will focus more on Rachel and Allen, Richard, and maybe even a little of Gar again if things go according to plan (my plan being that I choose some characters to write about and see where things go from there).

Please review despite the fact that I deserve to go to hell for a bunch of days for not updating in forever and two days!

Kattie


	19. Forget Everything

"Damn Xavier, it's like a whole 'nother person when you're high," Johnny laughed, blowing out smoke and reclining in his seat. The wind blew the smoke away from the roof the rather large group was currently occupying not that any of them cared if the smoke was noticeable. At the moment they were all just letting off the edge of their classes and troubled lives; taking a moment to clear their heads and 'escape' from the real world.

"I'm an even different person when I'm drunk and high. Pass me a beer," Xavier told his room mate who just let out a holler of laughter before complying.

"And to think you were gonna skip to go play boyfriend for some piece of ass. Fuck X, I seriously thought I had lost my wing man for a moment there. Don't scare me like that again man." Johnny's change to a rather serious tone and bringing up Kory made Xavier feel slightly guilty, even if he wasn't exactly the straightest thinking at the moment.

"Yeah right. Like I'd ever let a piece of ass like her take me away from my afternoons with you lot. She's just there to warm my bed," he lied, knowing that Kory was definitely more than just _that_ to him. There were chorused, yet half-assed, cheers that echoed on the roof along with some laughter from the guys.

"That a boy," Johnny approved breathing in the toxin once again. Xavier did the same, but it didn't make him feel any better or lighter for that matter. In fact, it just made the guilt weigh down on him more.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"We'll be able to have your records available by Friday Mr. Grayson," the secretary said kindly. Richard nodded before leaving the front office and heading back towards his dorm room. Things were going rather well this week even though it was only Monday and he still had a whole 'nother 4 days of school work ahead of him. Earlier that morning he had finally come to the realization that he was well over 18, by a good 3 years, which meant he was adult enough to make his own decisions.

_"Fuck I am stupid. Why the hell didn't I think of this earlier?" _he swore to himself as he began packing away his things. No longer would Richard be staying at this college because he was going back to his original one; where Kory was. There was no denying that most of the reason he was going back was because he wanted another chance to prove to Kory that they still did have something, but it was also a way to get away from Kitten.

Just thinking about being away from Kitten made a shiver of anticipation and joy go coursing down Richard's spine and he couldn't help but smile like a giddy little boy on Christmas morning. To be totally honest, it scared him just how excited he was about being rid of some _girl_, but then again, Kitten is no girl. She is a demon. Someone that was born to ruin people's lives for her own sick twisted amusement.

Now it would be Richard who would be amused while watching her face crumbled when he drove away from her and this time, for good.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

The snow had just begun and already Garfield could feel its chilling presence. It drifted down in innocent little puffs, appearing childish and refreshing, but when one truly got down to it; snow was downright evil. Or, at least, that's how Gar saw it.

Even bundled up in two huge coats, a sweat, a long sleeve shirt, a white wife beater underneath it all and some jeans with warm socks, high boots, a thick beanie, ear muffs, and thick gloves that reminded him of Big Foot; he was still shivering with his nose running. If there was one thing Garfield hated more than school, it was the cold which is why he always found himself wondering why he even moved to New York in the first place.

_"Well lets see here, probably because my life was just going so freaking fantastic back in Jump," _he thought bitterly, arms crossing tighter over his chest as the straps of his backpack dug into his shoulders more to the point where it was becoming painful. But in his eyes, it was worth it because this was better for Rachel and himself as well. If they weren't around each other, they wouldn't have to think about the baby and how it would've taken on each of their traits.

_"What if it had had her eyes and my skin tone. Purple and tan and if it were a girl she would have gorgeous thick hair with slight waves. Oh she would be a beauty and I'd be able to kick the ass of those boys who tried to toy with her heart." _

Garfield came to a sudden stop in the middle of the sidewalk, people grunting as they shoved past him; some throwing him back rude looks because he had stopped. Even away from Rachel, all he could still think about was her and what their kid could've been; what their lives could've been like. It made his heart ache so painfully that Gar almost couldn't breathe, eyes going wide with panic as the cold entered him with each gasping breath he took. As of lately, he'd been having this 'panic attacks' of the sort quiet often, all relating to his thoughts of Rachel and his past. It was really hard to talk about especially when he was with Terra and it happened.

How exactly is Gar supposed to tell her that when he's with her, he starts thinking about his ex-girlfriend who had almost been the mother of his child after having been together for maybe 6 years. Oh yeah, that's a real great conversation starter along with "What do you think of this weather? I ran away from my friends and my home and these clouds remind me of that day. You ever do anything crazy like that?" Girls would be all over Garfield if he just kept talking like that.

With a heavy sigh, he continued walking; glad that 'home' was only a couple more blocks away and then he'd be able to take a hot shower and a long nap cuddled up in some heater blankets. The thought made the trip back home seem that much quicker and easier and soon Gar had hot water rushing over his back; making a sigh escape through his shivering lips as the warmth rained over him. Steam was wafting out of the top of the shower, flowing into the rest of the bathroom and filling the whole room with its warmth.

The one thing Garfield didn't like about showers, however, was that they always tended to bring about some not so pleasant thoughts. In the shower, his mind becomes clear to really think about anything and on the days he was feeling 'lonely', his mind would rush back to the many showers Garfield had shared with Rachel.

_"Maybe it was one of those showers that got her pregnant," _he thoughts and the panic started up again. This time, since he was inside and not really caring, Gar sat down on the shower floor; water falling over his head as he brought his knees up to his chest and tried to sooth his racing thoughts. After what he thought to be five minutes, since whenever this happened Garfield lost all track of him, the panic subsided and he was able to stand again. Pushing all thoughts aside from where his conditioner was out of his head, he continued on with his shower without another incident.

It only took Gar another five or so minutes to finish up his shower and when he got out he was warm and relaxed; not feeling cold in the slightest. Simply drying off his body and then running a comb through his hair before throwing on a pair of sweats and the wife beater he had been wearing earlier; Gar climbed into bed. Sleep easily came as his body relaxed and the pressure of the day finally lifted.

**oo-**

_A soft sigh escaped his love's petal-soft lips as Gar kissed down her clothed stomach, hands on her hips as he held her still; loving the way she squirmed beneath him even though all of her clothes were still on. Having a junior boyfriend, however, when she herself was only a sophomore in high school did leave some reason to be nervous, but Gar knew he would never hurt the girl beneath him. Simply because, he loved her. _

_Yes, Garfield Logan was in love with Rachel Roth; the weird sophomore girl that didn't go to many parties and didn't have a lot of friends. She was an outcast which honestly made him happy because Gar didn't want to think about other horny guys at their school catching sight of her and realizing just how breath taking she truly is. With a thin waist and subtle curves in all the right places and a nice B-sized chest that was just perfect when it came to fitting into his hands. When it came to showing off, Rachel did none of that and was rather against PDA and being so openly broadcasted unlike so many of the other girls at their hormonal high school. This is what had caught Garfield's eye about her in the first place; because she was so different and made butterflies tremble in his stomach. _

_Slowly and carefully, watching her expression with every move he made; Gar slipped the tips of his fingers under her shirt. He heard her sharp intake of breath as the muscles beneath his touch rippled and coiled; small goose bumps standing out in contrast to her smooth creamy skin. Personally, Gar loved the way Rachel blushed when she was embarrassed or how her face flushed when he whispered her adoring nickname, Rae, into her ear. Over the year or so that she's been brought into Gar's group of friends, everyone has just grown to call her Rae instead of Rachel most of the time; but it always made her blush when it was Gar calling her Rae. _

_Almost as slow as before if not slower, he continued to inch his fingers under her shirt until he was two knuckles in on his middle finger and her shirt had slid up to show some of her flat stomach. Bringing his face closer to her body, Gar took in a deep breath through his nose, loving the small hint of Japanese cherry blossom that greeted his nose and seemed to pull him deeper into Rachel's enchanting spell. If she were a witch though and trying to cast him under some spell that would bind him to her forever, Gar didn't mind; he _wanted _to be with her forever at this point. Even though she had given him nothing but kisses and the permission to hold her hand, Gar was smitten and didn't feel embarrassed in the least to admit it; knowing that she would understand better than anyone what he was feeling. _

_Leaning in closer still, Gar ran the tip of his nose across the expanse of Rachel's flesh, loving the way she shivered and sucked in a deep breath; knowing that what he was doing was sending chills up her spine. Once again, he looked up at her face for permission to go on only to find Rachel's eyes closed as she took in deep breaths; chest rising and falling in such a lovely way that it made Gar want to groan. God she looked gorgeous right now with her lips parted and there really was little to nothing more Gar wanted to do make love to her, but knew that pushing anything would betray the trust he had worked so hard to gain from her. So, instead, Gar continued to slowly slide Rachel's shirt up, kissing at the creamy skin as it was exposed and leaving no inch unloved. Her breathing was becoming deeper and every once in a while Gar would trail his nose over the side's of her abdomen, letting out a soft breath as he did and loving the way she shivered beneath him. _

_Again, he moved the shirt up more until his fingers just breathed over the lace of her bra and Gar quickly pulled back, practically sitting up all together which left Rachel looking up at him with her eyebrow raised. When she realized just how high her shirt had gotten, she blushed a rather dark shade of pink, but instead of doing what Gar thought she would which is pull down her shirt and tell him he should probably get going home; she sat up in front of him and gently traced his jaw line. _

_Her touch left shivers running through Garfield's system, learning into her touch and loving how gentle her fingers felt against his face. The warmth of Rachel's hand was suddenly gone from his face and Gar opened his eyes only to have them closed again when her lips were upon his neck just above the collarbone. Few girls had been daring enough to actually try and give him a hickey, let alone kiss his neck but when they did it always made Garfield shiver with pleasure. There was something exotic and alluring about the neck and the fact that it was Rachel here kissing his neck while slowly moving towards him, her shirt still pushed up to her chest made it all the more thrilling to Gar. _

_When she nibbled lightly on his ear, Gar didn't even try to hold back the groan that passed through his lips. This only seemed to encourage Rachel as she became more adventurous with his neck and practically crawled into his lap, widely straddling his crossed legs while steadying herself by taking hold of Gar's shoulders and continuing to kiss, suck, and nip along his neck. Slowly her lips moved up until she was kissing up the side of his chin before capturing his lips passionate kiss, dainty fingers curling the ends of his hair. An animal growl escaped from deep within Garfield's throat when Rachel's tongue slid delicately over his own and he quickly pulled away._

_"If you don't stop this now, I won't be able _to _stop," he warned, noticing the glazed over look in his girlfriend's eyes that made his member harden. She smiled, a sultry smile that was like none he had seen before and it made a shiver run down his spine. She leaned forward, stomach still taunt while she flashed some cleavage and brought her lips up against his ear._

_"Then don't," she whispered huskily to him. _

_Gar pulled back and looked at her, noticing how much clearer her eyes had gotten within those few seconds and knew that she was serious, but still he asked the question._

_"Are you sure?" It was, after all, her virginity they were talking about. Garfield himself had been with one girl before hand who had been more than willing to show him the ropes of sex and all of its pleasurable foreplay. And before that there had been girls who were willing to fool around with him behind the school buildings and in other scandalous places that made him grin whenever he thought about it. Sex or something of its nature was always better when there was a chance of getting caught; it made things thrilling and always got adrenaline pumping through Garfield's system. _

_"I trust you," Rachel said in a volume that was barely over a whisper but he heard it clear as daylight. Slowly, Gar nodded before wrapping his arms around her middle and lifting her up; moving her over so that her head lay down on the pillow. _

_"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right which means," pausing here, he pulled his shirt off over his head and then began untying his shoes. With a slipping nose and then a plop, they fell to the ground along with his socks and then turned back to Rachel who was staring at him with her nerves shinning through her eyes. _

_"Are you sure you want to do this Rae? I know this is a big thing for you and if you're not ready I can just leave," Gar offered, slowly turning around to pick back up his shirt which he had tossed to the carpeted ground. A small hand took hold of his wrist and Gar turned to look at Rachel who was looking at him with emotions shining in her violet eyes. _

_"No, please Gar. I want my first to be you," she said nervously, a shy blush creeping up onto her cheeks which made her seem so innocent and meek sitting there before him. Said teen couldn't help but smile at how tentative and cute she looked before him and probably would've forgotten what the whole subject were about had it not been for the fact that Rachel's shirt was all punched up at the top and that his penis was rather stiff in his jeans which were seeming to grow tighter as the night went on. _

_"Alright. I'll make sure this is special for you Rae, you deserve it," Gar assured her before leaning forward and kissing her lips softly. And special that night most certainly was, for both of them._

**oo-**

Garfield awoke with a start, shooting up in his bed with a film of sweat coating his body. He groaned at the rather _detailed _dream, or rather memory, before lying back down; letting his head hit the pillow with a muffled thump. There was no point trying to get some more sleep since now he was hot and painfully hard, the tent pitched in his pants making Gar groan when he realized that he'd have to take a cold shower in order to get rid of it.

_"And I had just gotten warmed up," _he thought grumpily before getting out of bed. On the way to the bathroom, Gar caught sight out of his window and noticed that it was snowing and another idea came to mind. Pulling on his boots and a sweater, Gar headed outside instead of to his bathroom and began shaking the moment he had closed the door behind him. Right away though, he knew that this was the better idea since the blood rush started going down and the cold also helped clear his thoughts. He simply didn't know if that was a good thing at the time or not.

Clearing his thoughts meant that he could analyze a situation deeper and really concentrate on it. Seeing as the only 'situation' Gar had going on in his life was school and then his past, of course his mind went to the past issue since it had been bothering him all the time he had been here. None of them knew where he was really except for the fact that he had run away and really had no intentions of going back. That wasn't true though because every day Gar wanted to go back and join them all as if nothing had ever happened, but he knew that could never happen; things had become much too complicated for him to do that.

Or, at least, that's what he kept telling himself to _stop _from going back to Rachel and the others. God he honestly wanted nothing more than to be with them and have things the way they were senior year of high school when Richard wasn't cheating on Kory and there wasn't any drama between their group of friends. Things could never go back to that and the fact that him and Rachel had lost a baby because of his careless mistake would never disappear either which is why Gar was better off here in New York and not by her side; right?

_"Of course I'm right, things are better off with us apart. This way we can just forget each other and everything that happened and start over and move on," _Garfield thought and with that he returned inside determined to get some more sleep and just forget everything that had happened; _everything_.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Eww so I know that it took me forever and two days to finally update, but hey it was a longish update and it gave you lots of Gar for those who were missing him. I know that there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but I'm just kinda starting to get over _some _of my writer's block so it's a work in progress.

Thank you to everyone that's been patient throughout all of my horrible writer's block! You guys who read and review every chapter really are what keep me writing and make me want to update 

Thanks for all the fabulous reviews! Please review again!

_Kattie _


	20. Answers Lead to Questions

_Panting. Hard, gasping panting echoed through the grim warehouse as the sound of water dripping onto a shallow puddle on cement went on in a non-consistent beat. Everything about this place screamed 'RUN!' but standing there; Kory could do nothing but the complete opposite of it. _

_She was frozen to the spot. Knees locked with her legs trembling from the weight of her upper body; having been standing and on her feet for quiet some time now. Her body was finally starting to feel the effect and exhaustion was bearing down on her, but still Kory stood; unable to move towards the door that was not even a foot in front of her._

_If she wanted, Kory could've _easily _reached out and turned the handle of the door; opening it and revealing whatever dreadful scene lie behind it…_

_But she couldn't._

_The gun shot had echoed much too loud. The strangled cry and grunt of another. The sound of a body falling in a heap to the hard ground with a sick slapping noise that came from something yet and strong hitting against bare human flesh. Then there were footsteps; running fast away from whatever crime had just been committed. _

_"They're going to get away." Was all Kory could think before there was another gun shot and the sound of another body dropping to the unforgiving ground. Beyond the door, there were muffled voices; Kory just barely managing to make out the words of 'dead' and 'behind' and 'leave'. _

_"Oh God. What if they've killed both Richard and Xavier?!" The thought made her sick to her stomach and it wasn't long before Kory found herself hunched over and dry heaving; the contractions in her stomach horribly painful because there was nothing to give up but also a wake up call._

_"This isn't just some dream. This is really happening and the two guys I've come to love in my life could be on the other side of that door….; dead."_

_This is how Kory came to be standing just in front of the door, probably ten minutes after the gunshots had sounded and just staring ahead; fingers twitching every once in a while as if going forward to open the door before returning to her side. _

_"Who the hell is breathing so hard?" Kory wondered before realizing that it was _her _who was breathing so hard. She was the one whose breathing was consuming the whole room; sucking up all the air from anyone else as her body shook and trembled with each struggling breath. _

_Suddenly, there was the sound of movement from the other room just beyond the door. A shuffling sound that was like something being dragged across the ground and it startled Kory. It startled her so much that it put her into auto-pilot and soon the door was thrown open; her eyes wide as she took in the scene. _

_There was blood on the ground; probably a larger puddle than the one the water had been dripping into and it was sickening crimson red with a thick syrupiness to it. Kneeling in the puddle, there was a boy; no not a boy because no boy would be able to see this and not pass out or break down crying for their mother. It was a _man _kneeling there in the blood and he was holding the dead body of another man; someone who had put up a brave fight due to the heavy bruising and torn up skin on his arms and back. _

_Away from them, maybe 20 yards or so; was another body, just as dead the other one with an equal sized pool of blood surrounding it. But that body didn't concern Kory because she knew it was neither Richard's or Xavier's and, actually, looking at the body made a feeling of relief wash over Kory._

_"Kory, he's dead. They killed him Kory," the strangled voice of the man kneeling in blood broke out through the silence. Said girl didn't jump however because she recognized the voice, having heard it many times before over the years she'd known him._

_The scary thing was, walking over to the man and collapsing to her knees in the pool of blood as her energy gave out and the tears spilled over; Kory wasn't sure if she was happy about who had died and lived. She had loved both of them so much and somewhere in the midst of her aching heart as she grieved, Kory knew that she'd rather it be here lying there dead in the pool of blood than who was really there. _

_Another sound reached her ears that wasn't her own crying and Kory looked to her left to see the man sitting in the blood staring down at the body and crying as well. And there they sat, crying and unable to do anything else but that until the police came and took them away. But even then, the tears didn't end because both Kory and the man knew that the dead body being carted away in a body bag was never coming back. And somehow, looking at the man who was sitting across from her on the ambulance ride to the hospital; Kory knew._

_She knew that he _too _wished that it was him in that body bag and not who it really was._

_This puzzled Kory more than anything else._

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Richard stood in the parking lot of his old college, looking up at the dorm buildings and wondering just how high up he'd be in the building now that he'd come back. It was like a bittersweet return because there were those who were glad to see him like the jocks there on sport scholarships and some of the buddies he had had in high school, and then there were those not to happy.

Those mainly being the people who knew anything about what went on with him and Kory and who blamed Richard and _solely _him for everything that happened.

It was those people who were the ones that shot him looks as he walked by; hushed whispers fluttering about the dorm hall ways wherever Richard headed. Silently and to himself, Richard wondered if this was how it was going to be for him for the rest of the school year. The thought made nervous butterflies erupt in his stomach, unsure if he could handle this kind of treatment for the rest of the year and who knows how much longer.

_"It's all for Kory," _Richard reminded himself and unable to control it, a smile spread across his lips. Just thinking about seeing her again made him happier and Richard found himself walking faster down the hall and towards the room he knew she would be in.

By the time Richard was in the right hallway, he was practically sprinting; twisting his body so he could squeeze in between people and get through faster. There were no longer whispers, but full out conversation about him; some people not even caring so much as to be discrete and yelling to their friends about his appearance. Richard found all of it rather childish.

`_"Don't people have something else to do than gossip about our lives?" _he thought to himself, frowning slightly as he slowed down in front of Kory's dorm door. Taking a deep breath, Richard raised his fist and knocked, noticing how the hall way behind him had fallen practically silent; the sound of breathing barely audible through the thick silence.

"Hold on," came a reply through the door, Kory's voice muffled through the wall but still able to hear. There was another moment's wait before the door opened and Kory was standing there.

"Richard," she breathed, unable to do much else but stare at him.

"Hey Kor," said man replied, smiling softly at her. For a moment, Richard was sure that the woman before him was going to smile back; her eyes starting to light up as the corners of her mouth started to lift but then there was a noise from behind her.

"Something wrong Cutie?" Xavier asked, standing behind her and finally catching sight of Richard.

"Oh, it's _you_. What do you want now Grayson?" Xavier's words were harsh, eyes narrowing as he watched the guy standing in the doorway. Looking back at Kory's face and seeing her eyes cast to the ground with a look of hurt on her face, Richard felt as though he'd just been punched in the gut.

"Nothing that concerns you Xavier, I just wanted to talk to Kory; privately," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and be as polite as possible when addressing the pair.

"Seeing as I'm Kory's boyfriend, I'd say it does concern me, _Grayson_," Xavier spat, taking a threatening step forward.

"Xavier stop, you're acting like some little kid fighting with a classmate over a toy. Richard isn't trying to do anything bad so how about I call you later tonight," Kory cut in, hinting that Xavier leave so she could stay and talk with Richard.

"But Kory it's Grayson we're talking about. He's always doing something bad or hurting you," Xavier tried to tell her, glaring at Richard as he spoke; said man just trying to stay calm through the whole ordeal as Xavier insulted him.

"And right now you're hurting me. Please Xavier, I can handle myself and it's just Richard. He's not here to do anything but talk, right?" This time Kory was talking to Richard, looking at him ask she asked her question.

"Of course. I only have intentions of talking with you tonight," Richard confirmed and Kory showed him a small smile that made his heart warm up. She then turned back to Xavier, waiting for him to leave her dorm room.

"Fine," he finally said, giving up on the silent battle. "But be sure to call me tonight, alright Cutie?" All Kory gave in reply was a nod before going up on her tipy toes and kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear and then she and Richard were left standing in the doorway. Looking around, Kory noticed all of the people just watching them and, clearing her throat, moved to the side. "I think we'll have more privacy in here," she pointed out and with a small smile on his lips, Richard entered the dorm room.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Watching him walk inside her room, Kory could do nothing but stare and think of her dream from the night before. She wished now that she had had a better image of who was the man lying in their own puddle of blood.

Just moments before, when Xavier and Richard had been next to each other, Kory did nothing but study them for something that stood out against the other one in hope that it would help identify who was who. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing that would help her and it frustrated Kory to no ends.

_"What did my dream mean? Is Richard or Xavier going to die soon?" _

"You okay Kory, you seem a little out of it," Richard spoke, interrupting said girl's thoughts. Shaking her head, Kory threw him a small smile and sat down on her bed. Looking around awkwardly, Richard finally just settled on sitting on the edge of Barbara's bed.

Finally, after a long silence, Kory spoke. "So what are you doing here Richard?" Shifting ever so slightly in his seat, he replied,

"I switched back. I'm going to school here again." Shock and the slightest tint of joy went spiking through Kory's system as her eyes widened.

"Wow," was all she managed to say, dropping her gaze to the floor of the dorm room.

"I know that you probably still hate me and this all is probably really bad news to you, but this school is where I belong. Not only because it's where all my friends are and because it's closest to the mansion, but because it's where you are and, despite everything that's happened between us; wherever you are I've always felt like I belong," Richard told the girl before him, words strong yet quiet in volume; not wanting to speak too loudly because the topic was such a sensitive one. Even the slightest word out of place could send either of them into a whirlwind of uncontrollable emotions that had been bottled up for so long; just aching to be set free.

"Richard you know I'm with Xavier now. Sweet words won't win me back," Kory stated, sitting up straighter and staring him down.

"I'm not trying to win you back, I'm just telling you what I feel; and this time for real. I know I've messed up before, like I've _really _fucked a lot of stuff up; all I'm asking for is another chance to be your friend. I'd rather be so much more than just friends with you, like if we could go back to the way we were in high school, but I know that's not possible because of everything I've done. Right now though, I'll just settle for being your friend so that in time I can maybe make up for the countless mistakes I've made," Richard told Kory who was now fighting back tears.

"Please Richard, stop," she quietly asked of him, holding herself as she bit back her tears.

"I'm sorry Kory, I don't mean to make you cry; I just needed to tell you what's been on my mind for so long. There hasn't been a day that's gone by where I haven't wished I could take back everything I've done; starting with the cheating and instead just treating you as you deserve to be treated. God, I wish I could take it all back," Richard muttered to himself, holding his head in his hands with his elbows resting on his knees.

Looking at him, Kory felt her heart ache as her old feelings for him rose up again. It's true that she never truly got over Richard; sometimes just thinking about their time together making her want to run back to him. The dream Kory had last night had been plaguing her mind all night as it was but now that Richard was there too it was like one big overload for her and it was making Kory's emotion bounce around.

"Richard what happened, well, it happened and you can't change it. You need to stop dwelling on the past so much," she finally spoke and Richard lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"Then what can I do to make things better?" His words were choked out and hoarse.

"I don't know for sure, but I think being friends might be a step in the right direction," Kory said and the pair smiled weakly. Looking at the clock on the wall, Kory stood up from her seat and Richard followed suit.

"You should uh probably go unpack. I imagine you're going to need some time to get your dorm room back to the way it originally was. What room number are you?" she asked, slowly walking towards the door.

"I'm in room 304 with some Victor guy as my roommate. I guess he's pretty cool though, so things should be cool hopefully. It'd be nice if I could finally get a good roommate," Richard joked and they laughed.

"Despite everything… I'm glad you're back Richard. Things just weren't really the same with you and Gar gone and although he's still gone…I'm just happy to have you back," Kory admitted before lunging forward and hugging the man before her. Recovering from his momentary shock, Richard hugged Kory back; a smile spreading over his lips.

Stepping back from each other, Richard opened the door and stepped back out into the now nearly empty hall. "I'll see you in class then," he said, still watching Kory as he slowly walked backwards down the hall in the direction of his new dorm room.

"Yeah, see you in class," she replied, smiling. With that said, Kory slowly closed the door to her dorm; the smile never leaving her lips.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Eh, so I know it took me once again, forever to update, but I updated and it's like 6 pages long with some Kory and Richard fluff so you can't be all mad at me! If anyone is wondering about the little bit at the beginning, it was from Kory's dream and I'm hoping that it'll be enough to keep everyone reading for a while more while things work up to the drama. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and I'm tired now so I'm going to bed. If

Oh! I have a new poll up by the way, and it's for this story so please go vote! Only one vote per voter or whatever.

Please review too!

Lots of love,

_Kattie_


	21. Promises or False Hopes

"So what's the deal with Grayson being back?" Xavier asked over the phone and Kory sighed, wishing that they were having any conversation but this one. Just as she had promised, Kory had called Xavier after Richard had left and it was apparent that she had been unable to keep the smile from her words since Xavier had picked up right away and gotten royally _pissed_.

"He transferred schools because he studied better here I guess," Kory replied casually, skating around the fact that upon returning Richard all but confessed he still loved her and that he was going to try and get her back. Yeah, it wouldn't go over well to mention that to Xavier.

"What a bunch of bull shit," Xavier scoffed angrily, glaring at his wall from where he sat on his bed. "It's obvious he just came back so he could try and get in your pants."

"Yes because that's the only reason anyone would want to get with me," Kory spat, making her boyfriend groan with regret.

"Kor, baby, Cutie, com' on. You know I didn't mean it like that," Xavier began but he was cut off with cold words.

"I have to finish up some work Xavier. I'll see you tomorrow."

The line went dead.

"Fuck!" Xavier swore, tossing his phone done on his bed and running his hand through his hair.

"Have some, it'll make you forget," a voice offered, hand extending the lit blunt that had previously been passed around amongst the three men sitting in the room. Eyeing it for a moment, Xavier quickly snatched the drug and breathed it in; welcoming the offending drug to his system and feeling it begin to cloud his mind as he started to feel better.

"Christ Johnny, how much did you roll up?" Xavier asked, coughing after his second hit and handing back over the blunt. The other two guys laughed at their coughing friend.

"Trust me X, it's not enough. You're just out of practice. Dating that girl of yours has really put you behind in the world above this one."

"What are you Johnny, some god damn Buddha?" Xavier mocked, leaning against the wall lazily as the drug started to take its effect on his body.

"Nope, just a man who knows his drugs." The room broke out into laughter then, Xavier ending up coughing from the mix of breathing so heavily from laughing with all the smoke in the air and his lungs.

"God Xavier, you really are out of practice. This is pretty bad," 'Fang', as the group called their snappy friend, pointed out with a shake of his head as if shamed to be in the same room as Xavier.

"Oh shut the hell up, jerk-off. Just because you weren't getting any and had to resort to drug to get a release didn't mean that everyone was stuck that way. I've been happily living it up in bed with my gorgeous girlfriend and now I also have hanging out and getting high on the side. It seems as if I win," Xavier said smugly, taking in another drag in triumph; sighing as he slumped back against the wall happily.

"And what happens when your squeeze finds out?" Johnny asked. Xavier opened his eyes to look up at his long time companion and smiled.

"She won't."

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Richard tried not to notice all the stares and whispers as he walked towards his first class of the day, but it was nearly impossible. Never before had Richard cared about attention and about people talking and gasping when he walked by because they had obvious reasons to. Now, however, the whispers weren't so adoring and the looks were those of distaste; showing that not everyone was as happy to see him as Kory appeared to be.

_"Kory," _Richard thought and a smile spread to his features. Just thinking about being able to see her every day again made the whispers seem like nothing more than the annoying buzz of a fly; just needing to be swatted away. He never realized how much he had truly missed Kory's glowing presence over the time he'd been away from her and being around her again was like an early Christmas.

"Richard?" a familiar voice asked and Richard turned around to see Rachel standing there with her jaw hanging slightly open.

"Rachel," he said with a smile. "Long time no see." To this, the woman before Richard simply nodded, seeming to have lost her words.

"What are you doing here?" There was a harsh tone to her words that took Richard a bit by surprise. He thought she'd be happy or at least a little pleased to see him; not angry.

"I transferred schools again," Richard said, watching his friends, or at least used to be friend, with a quirked eyebrow.

"And you just had to come back here and ruin Kory's life again? Look _Dick_, she's been getting a long just fine without you and doesn't need you coming back and ruining everything she's worked for," Rachel spat and Richard winced at the truth in her words but at the same time stood up straighter to defend himself.

"I already talked with Kory and she's glad I'm back so why don't you lay off a little Rachel. I know you've had it tough with guys, but that's no reason to take it out on me." Rachel's eyes widened from his words before she shook her head and shoved past Richard, not even bothering to retaliate. Confused, Richard watched her go before letting out a sigh as he ran a hand through his already messed up hair. As much as he would've liked to ditch class for the rest of the day, there was no reason on making a bad impression with professors on his first day back. So with that thought in mind, Richard shifted the weight of his backpack to his other shoulder and continued down the dorm halls.

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

"Kory what the hell were you thinking?" Rachel asked, barging into said girl's dorm after her classes were done.

"Great to see you too Rachel," Kory said with a smile, walking past her friend while humming a tune.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Kory stopped her humming and looked at Rachel with wide eyes, trying to wrap her mind around what she had just been asked. "Excuse me?"

"I can't believe you're humming and going around like some fucking school girl the minute Richard walks back into your life. Have you all but forgotten about Xavier? Hello! You have a boyfriend that doesn't cheat on you and leave you behind!" Rachel yelled.

"How'd you find out about Richard?" Kory asked in a hushed tone, sitting down on her bed slowly.

"Like I wouldn't have found out eventually. Everyone is talking about how you made Xavier leave so that you could talk to that asshole, and it's not like he's going to a different school anymore because oh yeah, he transferred to come and '_be with you_'. Oh yeah, I'm sure," Rachel spat, pacing the floor out of anger.

"Will you stop treating me like I'm some fucking kid?!" Kory yelled, shooting up from her bed. This made Rachel stop her pacing as she stared at her friend, surprised from the outburst. "I know what I'm doing Rachel and I'm already getting enough crap for it as it is. I don't need you beating me down about this too!"

Tears were running down her face now and with a frustrated cry, Kory turned and stormed into the bathroom; slamming and locking the door behind her. "Kor?" Rachel asked weakly, walking over to the closed door with caution.

"Kory please come out," she begged but there was no reply except for sniffles and a tapping sound. Rachel knew then that she had over stepped a line because Kory only tapped her foot that fast when she was truly angry or hurt. For all Rachel knew, it could be a combination of the two that she had caused.

"Kory I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling her throat become tight with oncoming tears. The door was thrown open then and Kory came quickly walking out; eyes red and make up smeared.

"I hate this Rachel. I hate all of this so much," she said quickly, pacing across the room as Rachel could only watch from where she stood near the bathroom door.

"I _know _that I shouldn't be giving Richard another chance because I've already given him so many, but I can't stop myself from trusting every sweet word he says and clinging to the way he smiles at me. So far all that anyone has said to me is that I'm an idiot, a fucking _moron_ for trusting him again and for agreeing to be his friend when I should be mad beyond belief that he even showed his face here, but I can't be mad and everything they're saying is starting to make me go crazy.

"I'm sorry that I can't hate my first love and boyfriend of so many years. I'm sorry I can't hate the guy that was always there for me when I _truly _needed him; not after some stupid party where I got a little tipsy and needed a ride home. I can't _stop _the way I feel about Richard, it's all but ingrained in my brain and I _hate _it. I hate that he has this power of me because whether he knows it or not, he does have power over me and it makes me feel so weak against him."

Rachel watched as Kory's pacing began to slow and listened as the words became harder to understand against the tears. "Kory," she said softly, walking over to her friend and trying to place a hand on her shoulder only to be pushed away.

"I already have Xavier against me and a bunch of other random strangers that don't even know what really went on between me and Richard. Please Rachel, not you too. I can't stand it if you're against me too," Kory whispered, eyes red from the tears that were running down her cheeks and her whole body trembling. Once again, Rachel reached out for her hurting friend and was allowed to comfort her; pulling Kory into a tight hug before they sunk to the floor in tears.

"I'm sorry Kory, I'm so sorry," Rachel said hoarsely, hating the way her t-shirt became damp from the tears _she _had caused. "I'm gonna back you up on this Kory. I'll help you through this and everything will get better."

"You promise?" Kory asked weakly.

At that moment, Rachel was glad that Kory couldn't see her eyes for if she could, she would notice the way they betrayed her words.

"Yeah, I promise."

**oo-oo-oo-oo-oo**

Holy shit, I really don't even know what to say about how long I've been gone except for I'm sorry. If you guys look, the last time I updated was in July or something which was before school started so you can at least be assured that school is kicking my ass and keeping me so busy.

I wrote this update in like two days and it's barely even four pages. Right now, I just wanted to get an update up that assured people I wasn't gone completely from this story. I'm working on updates for **all **of my stories which I'm hoping to get up before New Years. Next to be updated is hopefully _Walking As The Damned _since I'm like two pages into the next chapter already. I may actually just make the chapter really long and have it be the last one. Should I do that, or make it two kinda even chapters? I dunno, right now it really depends on how much I can get done in the next two days. I'm getting updates done now because finals are gonna be keeping me busy for the next two weeks and I'm tired of putting off writing these updates because my readers are fucking _amazing _and deserve the best from me which I haven't been doing a good job at all of providing.

_But_, if you wanna help me get back on my A-game, **I'm still looking for a Teen Titan beta-reader** that's willing to put up with me and help me out with all of my stories. Right now I _still _don't have the files from my old computer back and while it's been a good thing because I haven't been able to put off my main stories for the ones I'm still working on to get posted, it sucks because _I want my writing back! _

I'm looking for help on all of my stories that are currently in-progress, just keep in mind that if you choose to help me with something like _Walking As The Damned _or _Painted Woman _that those stories will be ending soon and I have **no sequel **planned for either of them. If you're worrying about having to stay around for a long time to help out with this story for however long it goes on, while it would be _nice _to have you stay around, by no means are you obligated. I'm also willing to take on more than one person for some of these stories such as _Being With You Only Brings The Tears _and my still yet to be posted (because all the fucking chapters are on the old computer), _If These Feelings Are Wrong, I Don't Wanna Feel Right _(I'm considering a title change) because those two will be **long **and I want as many opinions on them as possible.

Sorry for the long Author's Note and short chapter, but I have to go now and work on the update for _Walking As The Damned _and _Painted Woman_. Please send me your love via review because it's the holiday season and everyone enjoys some extra love at this time. Also! If you'd like to get more details on possibly becoming one of my beta-readers, just PM me or mention it in your review and we can start working something out hopefully soon.

_Happy New Year!_

_Kattie _


	22. Take Care

"Cutie please, just open the door so we can talk. People are starting to stare."

Xavier stood in the dorm hallway, leaning against the wall next to Kory's door as he rubbed his temple and tried to ignore all the annoying whispers and stares.

_"Fucking a, it's like high school all over again," _he thought, grimacing as he knocked on Kory's door once again. There was still no answer so Xavier raised his fist, ready to knock again, when Kory finally opened the door.

"Here to tell me how much of a mistake I'm making?" she asked angrily, arms crossed tightly over her stomach almost as if hugging herself.

"Can I just come in? I really wanna talk to you and it's really awkward to do this in front of everyone."

No response.

"Please Kory."

Kory sighed. "Make it quick, I have class in 20 minutes," she said while moving out of the way and opening the door wider, allowing Xavier access.

"I hate that we're fighting because of Grayson." The door was barely shut when Xavier admitted this, spinning around to face Kory as he prepared to pour his heart out on the table. Knowing what he was about to do, Xavier felt sick to his stomach and like his heart would surly pound out of his chest any second.

"We wouldn't be fighting if you were more accepting of him," Kory muttered, recrossing her arms and looking down at her shoes.

"Yeah and you'd still be with him if he wasn't a cheating ass and then we never would have met. Would that make you happy?"

"Get out," Kory hissed, her eyes narrowing as she moved to open the door. Xavier quickly moved forward and trapped her hand in his own, the other one placed firmly on the door as to keep it closed.

"No," he stated and Kory's eyes narrowed further. "Not until I'm finished."

"If you just wanted to convince me what a dumb choice I'm making by letting Richard back in, you're wasting your time because I don't care."

"Will you listen to yourself Kory?! The minute Grayson shows up, _everything _is about him!" Xavier yelled, his grip on her hand subconsciously tightening as he stepped closer to her.

"So you came here to talk to me about something that doesn't involve Richard?" Kory asked smugly and Xavier growled as he stared down at her.

"I'm real close to hitting something Kory, you better watch what you say," Xavier threatened, starting to see red as the thumping of his heart echoed in his ear drums. Kory's voice still run out clearly though, as she spoke again; glaring up at Xavier.

"Richard may be a cheating ass, but at least he never threatened to hit me."

"If Grayson is so fucking great than why aren't you with him right now?!" Xavier yelled into her face, so close now that their noses were touching. Had this been a different time and the strong emotions coursing through them were different ones; the moment could have been a nice one with a promising future. "Why are you here wasting your time with me when you could be off fucking Grayson?!"

A sharp slap echoed throughout the room, followed by the sound of heavy breathing as Kory slowly lowered her shaking hand. "I want you to get out," she hissed lowly.

"Maybe that's for the best," Xavier said bitterly, pulling away from Kory and reaching for the door handle. "Don't come crying back to me when Grayson doesn't turn out to be your knight in shinning armor."

And with that Xavier was gone, slamming the door behind him as he stormed out into the halls that were annoyingly crowded.

"X, what's going on?" Johnny called, jogging after his friend. Xavier just kept walking with his hands clenched into fists at his sides, jaw tight and eyes straight forward.

"We broke up," Xavier finally said, stopping suddenly and spinning to face Johnny.

"Shit man, I'm sorry," Johnny said lamely, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "But if it's because of that Grayson bastard than she's just a whore and wasn't good for anything other than a fuck," he finished, moments later shoved up against the wall as Xavier held him by the throat and glared down at him.

"Shut the fuck up. You have no idea what you're talking about," he hissed, tightening his grip before letting go of Johnny completely.

"Look X, I'm sorry man. Just come with me and we'll go get high and I'll find a real pretty lady to help you forget all about Kory," Johnny said after he regained his breath, his voice hoarse.

"I don't wanna get high," Xavier muttered, pacing in the hall as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Then what the hell do you want to do Xavier? Because you can't just stay like this, it's not healthy or something."

There was silence as Xavier continued to pace, trying to think of something to do that would make the anger coursing through his veins go down.

"Let's go fighting," Xavier finally said and a smirk broke across Johnny's lips.

"Now you're talking my language."

_oo-oo-oo_

__Kory sat on the edge of her bed; staring in front of her while she tried to wrap her mind around what the hell just happened.

_"He broke up with me," _she thought, feeling her heart ache as the truth of the matter started to resonate within her.

"Oh God," Kory whispered before she was jumping off her bed and throwing open the door, rushing out of her room and down the halls. Never before had the distance between her own room and Xavier's seemed so long, but now it felt like forever just to get to the right hall; all the doors seeming to blend together and none of them seeming closer to Xavier's.

"Xavier?" Kory asked, throwing open the door the moment she got to his dorm finally. It took a while for her mind to catch up with her eyes and when things did connect, Kory was disappointed to see that Xavier wasn't in the room, just two guys lying on the beds smoking.

"Looking for someone honey?" one of the guys asked, sitting up as he blew smoke out of his mouth. Kory wrinkled her nose in disgust as she slowly took a step back.

"Uh yeah, I was hoping Xavier wasn't here, but I can see that he isn't. I'll just come back later," she muttered, subconsciously reaching behind her for the door knob of the door that she had stupidly closed behind her after running in.

"I can be Xavier if you want me to be," the guy sitting up said, smiling at Kory. The other guy sat up as well, a smirk on his lips.

"I'll be Xavier too," he said, blowing out smoke through his nose.

"That's very nice of you guys to offer, but I really need to talk to the real Xavier. I'll just leave now," Kory tried to say, but quickly one of them was up and off the bed and at the door, pulling her hand away from the handle and holding it instead against his chest.

"What's with the rush sweet? Why not stay and hang out with us for a little while? Have a smoke and take your shoes off… clothes can come off too." A wink was thrown in at the end of his sentence as he wrapped an arm around Kory's stiff frame.

"Let me go," she said, trying to sound strong but failing as her voice wavered.

"Aww come on baby, you're so nice to hold," he purred into Kory's ear, a chill running down her spine from the feeling of his breath on her neck.

"Come on now man, don't be selfish," the other guy said, standing from the bed and walking over with a smirk on his lips. He wrapped his arm around Kory's waist and pulled her out of the grip of the other guy, bringing her instead towards his chest. "Oo, you are nice to hold," he agreed.

"Let me go!" Kory yelled, feeling the other guy grab her hips from behind and pull her towards him while still trapped against the chest of the other male.

"You know Kyle," it was the guy behind Kory that spoke, his face nuzzled against her neck, "I think I heard something about Xavier going out with Johnny which means he won't be back for a _long _time." Kory started shaking upon hearing that as slow circles were rubbed on her hips; hands slowly slipping underneath the fabric of her shirt so that they were against her bare skin.

"You don't say Ryan," Kyle said, a smile on his lips as he slid his hands under Kory's shirt and slowly up her stomach.

"Mmhm, now why would I lie about a thing like that?" Ryan asked, kissing along Kory's racing pulse as she went stiff as a board; her eyes wide open and filling with tears.

"Do you have a name gorgeous?" Kyle asked as his fingers brush over the skin just below Kory's bra. Her arms shot up then and she tried to push him away only to end up backing further into Ryan who let out a low groan as his grip on Kory tightened.

"Let me go!" she screamed, struggling against them which only made them laugh as they held on tighter. It was Kyle who ripped her away from Ryan, spun her around, and then threw her back on the bed; Kory's head hitting the wall as she fell back.

"Let's call you kitten," Ryan suggested as he crawled next to Kory on the bed. Kyle's smile grew at the suggestion of this name as he ran his hands up Kory's legs, stopping at her pant loops which he put his fingers through and pulled out.

Stars danced in front of Kory's eyes as she blinked through the tears that were streaming down the side of her face. There were hands on her and she could hear their voices, but they sounded so far off as the pounding of Kory's heart echoed in her ears. The thoughts in her head were all jumbled together in a haze as her head kept pounding and her body kept shaking.

"Hmm purple. That's cute kitten." It was Kyle that said this as he stared down at Kory's chest after removing her shirt. His hands moved down her naked stomach and to the button of her jeans, popping it out and pulling down the zipper. "Matching lingerie kitten? That's hot."

"Get off of me," Kory tried to tell them but the pounding in her head made it hurt to move, let alone talk. She was left with nothing to do but lie there was Ryan kissed up her arm and Kyle began to pull off her pants. "Xavier," Kory sobbed, slowly shaking her head back and forth as Kyle kissed the inside of her bare thigh.

"Don't worry kitten, he's nowhere near here," Ryan assured Kory in a husky whisper, his hands caressing over Kory's breasts as the other one slid underneath her back and tried to undo the clasp of her bra.

While Ryan was working with that, Kyle slid his hands up the inside of Kory's thighs and let his fingers ghost over her underwear. He hooked his fingers under the waistband of her underwear and just as he was getting ready to pull the garment away, Kyle was torn away from Kory as a growl rang through the air.

"Shit," Johnny whispered, staring from where he stood in the doorway as Xavier pulled the two men off of Kory.

"What the fuck man?!" Ryan yelled before Xavier's fist was slammed into his jaw and his body sent spinning to the ground. Kyle watched with wide eyes as this all happened and when he felt the vibrations of Ryan hitting the ground, Kyle quickly tried to crawl out of the dorm room. Xavier saw this and let out an animal like growl as he followed after Kyle, grabbing him by the hair and pulling his head up before punching him back down.

"Shit," Johnny muttered once again, watching in a demented sort of awe as Xavier went back into his dorm room and dragged Ryan out and threw him onto the floor right next to Kyle.

"You know these guys?" Xavier asked, turning his attention to Johnny who stepped back slightly.

"Well it'd kinda hard to tell right now," Johnny said, laughing nervously as Xavier's eyes narrowed.

"They better be gone when I come back out or even their own mothers won't be able to recognize them," Xavier threatened before heading back into his dorm, the door closing calmly behind him.

Johnny looked over at Kyle and Ryan again before voicing the thought he was sure everyone else in the hallway was thinking.

"Shit."

_oo-oo-oo_

Xavier walked back into his dorm room to find Kory curled up in a ball on his bed holding his pillow against her chest.

_"Those fucking bastards. They were going to rape her on my own God damn bed!" _The thought alone almost made Xavier turn and go back into the hallway to make sure Kyle and Ryan would never see the light of day again, but after looking back at Kory he knew his priority and where he was needed most.

"Did they hurt you?" Xavier asked quietly, wanting to comfort Kory but he hesitated and instead just shoved his hands in his pockets. There was blood on his knuckles anyway.

"No," Kory whispered into the pillow, pulling her legs closer to her chest. Goosebumps rose up on her flesh as she thought about what had almost happened and then Kory was sobbing all over again, shaking violently as her knuckles turned white from gripping onto the pillow so tightly.

"They can't hurt you now Kory, don't worry. I took care of them," Xavier assured her, slowly sitting down on the opposite end of the bed. Looking at Kory now, Xavier felt the distance between them and it made his chest ache as he wanted to reach out and comfort her but knew that he had given that power up.

"Do you promise?" Kory asked weakly as she looked over at him through bloodshot eyes. Xavier was at a loss of words as he nodded, freezing up when Kory crawled into his lap and buried her face into his neck. Her body was still shaking as silent sobs moved through it and it took only a second for Xavier to wrap his arms around Kory's frail body and pull her closer as he gently rocked her.

"I promise Cutie," he finally whispered, almost choking on the words because his throat suddenly felt tight. "No one will hurt you ever again. I'll keep you safe."

"I love you Xavier," Kory whispered as she hugged herself closer to his body. Xavier took in a shuddering breath as his eyes began to sting.

"I love you too C-cutie," he choked out before pulling her closer and closing his eyes as silently, tears fell.

_oo-oo-oo_

Yeah no comment on how long it took me to update. I'm just gonna skip over that. As for the update, it's 6 pages long which I know isn't a lot but I think this chapter was pretty good so I hope it's put me on the right path for making up for my suckishness as an updater. Sorry to KorxRich fans who saw the beginning break up and were cheering until reading the end where Xavier and Kory get back together. I really enjoyed developing Xavier's character more though and it'll just make chapters coming up even better.

Please review!

_Kattie _


End file.
